Disputed National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Ali Modu Sheriff, on Friday blamed former President Goodluck Jonathan for PDP’s losses in Borno and Yobe states in the 2015 general elections.
Sheriff told journalists at a news conference in Abuja on Friday that if Jonathan had listened to him, the two states would have been PDP’s currently.
”Yobe and Borno are one and they will remain forever. I am following the trend of events in Yobe very well and I believe that PDP should never have lost Yobe at all.
”If the then president, Jonathan, had listened properly and we did what we had intended to do, by now we would have had the two states – Borno and Yobe.
”But unfortunately, whatever God decides, we will accept it and we cannot do otherwise,” he said.
On reconciliation between his faction and Sen. Ahmed Makarfi-led National Caretaker Committee of the party, he said: ”Members of the BoT are coming to see me.
”Even, last night they came to meet me at my place and the governors are also meeting with me.
”But, that does not mean that we are going to agree on anything that will affect our integrity, followership and our political interests.
”As some of you rightly said, some of them were ashamed to identify with the party.
”Now the PDP has become a strong party, everybody is looking up to PDP and we will not be distracted.
“This party, as I rightly said, must be returned to the owners. Anything short of that is a non-starter.
”What are our problems? How do we improve our standing, so that it is not when we want to go for election that we run around to put the house in order?
”It is now that we should put the party in proper shape ahead of the election period,” Sheriff said.
He expressed joy with the leaders of the party in Taraba, saying that people should always be allowed to chose who they want to lead them.
Meanwhile, Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo of Gombe State has urged national leaders of the PDP to sacrifice their personal interest in order for peace to reign in the party.
Dankwambo, who spoke on Friday in Abuja at the PDP North-East Zonal Caucus meeting, said that this was the best time to sacrifice personal interest in order for the party to move forward.
“In the past, so many things have remained issues of great concern. Now is the time to make sacrifice for all of us on old or new things that come our ways as a duty to the party.
“Everybody is weeping and crying at the same time. If anybody expect any other person to call him to his wing, we may not get to our destination, because the wing may not be too strong. It is the wing of sacrifice that is strong enough to take us to the right destination,” Dankwambo said.
The governor, however, urged PDP leaders from the North-East Zone to be careful in reaching a decision on national offices of the party zoned to the zone.
“We must avoid decisions that will further divide our members or bring more problems to our party.
“We should respect the views of our stakeholders and take decisions that will unite us,” Dankwambo said.
Governor Darius Ishaku of Taraba State, in his remarks, expressed the North-East interest in the office of the National Secretary of the party.
This, according to him, is one of the ways to easily resolved the party’s crisis.
Ishaku also expressed optimism that the leadership crisis rocking the party would soon be resolved.
He urged members of PDP from the geo-political zone to be united.
Senator Emmanuel Bwacha, (Taraba Central), the Senate Deputy Minority Leader, said that the PDP does not deserve the crisis it was going through.
Bwacha said everything must be done to address the party’s problem, if Nigerians should remain happy with the PDP.
He said that the National Assembly caucus of PDP believed that everything must be done to ensure that everybody in the party must be carried a long in running the party’s affairs.
“I particularly told the BoT resolution committee to meet the PDP governors and ensure that Sheriff’s demands are met,” Bwacha said.
Later, Dankwambo, Ishaku, Governors Ayo Fayose (Ekiti), Nyesom Wike (Rivers), former Governor Sule Lamido (Jigawa) and others met Sheriff to find a solution to the crisis before the convention next Wednesday in Port Harcourt.
