Gov Fayose’s Loyalist Threatens To Dump PDP If Court Favours Sheriff

Two national factions led by Ahmed Makarfi and Ali Modu Sheriff have taken their battle for control of the PDP to the Supreme Court, whose decision is being awaited on who the authentic leader of the party is.

Recall that the Court of Appeal had affirmed Sheriff as the national chairman of the main opposition party but this was rejected by the Makarfi faction.

Some members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and loyalists to Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti state have threatened to dump the party should the Supreme Court affirm the leadership of factional chairman Ali Modu Sheriff. 

Their threats comes months after Fayose himself hinted he could leave the party before the 2019 general elections, but vowed not to join the All Progressives Congress, claiming he was being lobbied to join the party.

The PDP members made the threat at a stakeholders meeting on Thursday, April 20, held in Ikole Ekiti. According to the Fayose faction, loyalists of Sheriff in the state were “outcasts and saboteurs,” who were only interested in wrecking the party, Premium Times reports.

The Fayose faction also used the forum to herald its mobilisation for the 2018 governorship election, and passed a vote of confidence on the Ekiti governor for his exemplary contribution to the party both at the national and state levels. The group led by its chairman, Gboyega Oguntuase, further expressed their profound support for Ahmed Makarfi, as the national leader of the party.

Oguntuase appealed to members to stand united, so that the 2018 poll could be a walkover for the party. He said: “Winning the election in 2018 is a done deal, but we want to keep our records flying. “In the last election, we defeated Governor Kayode Fayemi in all the 16 local governments and that feat we are going to maintain in the next poll.” He added that the party could not survive the onslaught already perfected by the All Progressives if Sheriff was allowed to control the party.

On his part, a former deputy governor of Ekiti state, Paul Alabi, moved the motion for a vote of confidence on Messrs. Fayose and Makarfi, before it was roundly supported by those at the meeting. However, Alabi warned a senator, Buruji Kashamu and Sheriff to stop meddling in the politics of Ekiti.

He said: “When did you see any Ekiti man controlling the politics of Ogun? Senator Kashamu must stop using some renegades to destabilize our party. “Let me also say this, Fayose remains the voice of the voiceless in Nigeria. He is a pride to Ekiti PDP and Nigeria at large and wherever he goes, we shall follow him en masse.”