The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, has alleged that governors Nyesom Wike and Ayodele Fayose of Rivers and Ekiti states respectively “recruited” ex-President Goodluck Jonathan to organise a “fake” peace meeting that was stalemated recently.
Sheriff specifically alleged that Wike spent N50 million for the former president to organise the “failed” PDP stakeholders meeting which was held at the Yar’adua Centre in Abuja.
But Jonathan’s spokesman, Ikechukwu Eze, in a telephone interview dispelled the claim, saying the former president called for the meeting because of his genuine concern to resolve contentious issues in the party.
”I don’t think anybody will believe that he collected money from anybody to organise the meeting. It is out of his genuine concern to bring peace in the party. He has been meeting with members of the party. He met with Sheriff severally; he also met with Makarfi severally and he met with the PDP governors. I don’t see any reason for anybody to say that Jonathan collected money from anybody to organise the stakeholders’ conference,” Eze said.
During the meeting on Thursday last week, Sheriff stormed out of the venue on the ground that he was not allowed to preside over it, saying he was not allowed to give the opening remarks in line with the appeal court judgement which recently gave him legitimacy as the party’s chairman.
Addressing newsmen yesterday at the PDP national secretariat in Abuja, Sheriff, who spoke through his deputy, Dr Cairo Ojougboh, said all PDP governors, with the exception of Wike and Fayose, were interested in the party organising a national convention in line with the recommendations of the Governor Dickson-led reconciliation committee.
Ojougboh also noted that the PDP’s second highest decision-making body, the National Executive Committee (NEC), would meet on May 3, 2017, at the Wadata Plaza to decide on convention date and other issues in the party.
However, Governor Fayose’s media aide, Lere Olayinka, said Sheriff had taken his campaign too far.
“If Ali Modu Sheriff has taken his desperation to serve his pay masters in the APC to the level of accusing former President Goodluck Jonathan of being bribed to organise peace meeting for the PDP, there is no reason for any sane mind to continue to respond to the continuous advertisement of his political insanity,” he said.
