Makarfi Considers Sheriff ‘Illegal PDP Chairman’

Makarfi, who deemed Sheriff an ‘illegal national chairman’ of the party, recalled that the amended PDP constitution that ushered him (Sheriff) in was declared null by an Abuja High Court in 2016.

In a statement by its spokesperson, the caretaker committee hence vowed to stop Sheriff from overseeing the next national convention of the PDP.

“To buttress this, the general public will also recall that the judgment of the Appeal Court, Port Harcourt Division of Friday, February 17, 2017 that nullified the national convention of May 21, 2016 limited itself solely to the legality or otherwise of the National Convention of May 21st, 2016 and not on the legality or otherwise of the appointment of Senator Ali Modu Sheriff as the Acting National Chairman of the PDP,” the statement read.

“Firstly, let us remind the public of our earlier calls on Senator Ali Modu Sheriff to stop parading himself as Acting National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) following the judgement of an Abuja High Court delivered by Justice Valentine Ashi on June 29, 2016 in which the court nullified the 2014 Amendment to the PDP Constitution that produced Senator Sheriff as Acting National Chairman of the PDP.

“This judgment was never appealed by Senator Sheriff and the time frame stipulated by law for the appeal has elapsed and, as such, the judgment subsists.

“Another judgment delivered on August 17, 2016 by Justice Nwamaka Ogbonnaya of the FCT High Court in Abuja reaffirmed the ‘sack’ of Senator Ali Modu Sheriff as the chairman of the PDP on the ground that the judgment of Justice Valentine Ashi, which nullified his appointment, has not been set aside or vacated and therefore it’s subsisting.

“Justice Ogbonnaya further held that all actions taken by Senator Ali Modu Sheriff are null, void and of no effect; and the Order further restrained him from parading himself as the Acting National Chairman of the party.

“Once again, he is currently an illegal Acting National Chairman, given the decisions of the courts, the constitution of the PDP, decision of the National Convention coupled with his act of breaking and entering into the national secretariat of our great party.

“It is interesting to note that Senator Sheriff is very much aware of the binding implication of the subsisting judgments on his ‘status’ as national chairman because we have been reliably informed that he is now seeking the leave of court to appeal the judgment. But, unfortunately, time is against this latter move. So, he is an illegal national chairman.”