Jonathan’s Ministers to Dump PDP Over Sheriff (Details)

With the continued controversy raised by its zoning arrangement, the main oppostion party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is facing a threat of mass exodus by Goodluck Jonathan’s ministers if the party’s current National Chairman, Ali Modu Sheriff, stays in office beyond May 21.

According to reports by Punch Newspaper, the ministers have vowed to not be part of a party led by Sherrif who is believed to have links with Boko Haram.

The former ministers met in Abuja on Thursday where they took a decision on some of the party’s forthcoming events, especially its national convention.

They also considered the preliminary reports from the zoning committee of the party.

The zoning committee, headed by the Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, was said to have zoned the office of the national chairman to the North-East. Many believed this is a ploy to allow Sheriff to continue in office beyond May 21.

Jonathan’s Ministers are insisting that Sherrif must quit as the party’s national chairman after May 21.

They said Sheriff was already working on a plan to break the ranks of the ministers by appointing them into different zoning committees.

Reliable sources said some former ministers, after listening to the contributions of their former colleagues, felt betrayed and threatened to leave the party if Sheriff was made the chairman.

Some of the affected ministers were those from the North-East, South-East and North-Central.

According to the Punch, a former minister, who served under the regime of President Goodluck Jonathan and another former female minister, said they would not sit at a meeting to be presided over by the former Borno State governor.

“It was so funny the way our colleagues were trying to defend the former governor despite the collective decision we took before,” One of the former ministers told the Punch.

“Some came to say we should give him the chance and that we should not be seen to be opposing him as a person.

“But it was gratifying to note that the majority of us have said there and then that we would leave the party for them. Our aprons are not tied to the PDP.

“We told them that Sheriff had always worked against his party. He worked for former President Olusegun Obasanjo; he worked for the late former President Umaru Ya’Adua; he worked for former President Goodluck Jonathan, who were all in our party.

“This was when Sheriff was in the opposition. Now, tell me: is there anything to suggest that he won’t work against us in 2019?” the minister added.

Source: The Punch