Abuja Court Kicks out Ali Modu Sheriff as PDP Chairman

A Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja High Court on Wednesday ordered acting chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ali Modu Sheriff to vacate the seat, faulting the process through which he emerged as the party chairman.

The Justice Valentine Ashi presided over FCT High Court (court 29) nullified the 2014 PDP Constitution Amendment upon which Sherif was appointed PDP Chairman.

The amendment had purportedly zoned the office of the party chairman to the North-East zone.

Former chairman, Adamu Muazu from the northeast resigned in 2015 following the party’s loss at the presidential election.

Ali Modu Sheriff, a former governor of Borno state, located in the North-East was appointed PDP national chairman in the interim by the party’s stakeholders after former deputy national chairman, Chief Uche Secondus from the South-East was removed from the position of acting chairman based on the zoning arrangement.

A convention to formally seal his position in May 2016 resulted in controversy after Sheriff purportedly cancelled the convention but Alhaji Ahmed Makarfi was announced chairman of a caretaker committee formed at the end of the convention.

A number of state governors were said to have insisted that the convention go on in order to remove Sheriff but the former governor got wind of the plan and sought to cancel it.

A parallel convention was also organised by a splinter group led by Professor Jerry Gana at which Senator Ibrahim Mantu was appointed acting chairman.