THE National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ali Sheriff, has left open the possibility of contesting the 2019 presidential election, but would leave the decision to God since he on his own cannot determine his tomorrow.
Speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Monday called to update the public on the progress of his ongoing consultation with stakeholders of the party, he said all positions he had occupied in life were made possible by God.
He insisted that he would not run for the office of the National Chairman of PDP, which he also announced must go to the south since the party envisaged that it’s 2019 presidential candidate would emerge from the north.
Asked whether he would contest the presidency, he replied: “Let me say this to you. Every position that I have occupied in life, God made it possible. I am a true believer in the will of God.
“All of us here now, let me ask this question, who knows when he will get to die? And how long will I live, who knows? These are all the will of God. You only think of what you know you cannot do.
“I told you that I will not run for the national chairman. chairmanship under the convention, I will not run. The rest, I leave everything to God to decide.”
Sheriff, who insisted that the planned national convention would go on, said he was holding consultation with the organs of the party and would announce the formation of a national convention planning committee at the end of the consultation.
He said as part of the consultation, he has met with the Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT), Senator Walid Jibrin, and has invited all the party’s National ex-officio members for a meeting next week.
Sheriff said he had also scheduled a meeting with the National Assembly Caucus of the party as part of the effort to carry every stakeholder along.
He said everyone in the party was working round the clock to ensure that peace returns to the party, saying: “we are for peace but that does not mean we are afraid of anybody.”
Sheriff stated that his leadership wanted the PDP back in power and was therefore determined to carry everyone on board, adding, “anybody who believes the PDP must be destroyed, he is on own and by the grace of God, PDP will never be destroyed. Nobody has the capacity to destroy the PDP. PDP is God’s creation and it will remain so.”
The party boss who restated that he would contest for the chairmanship during the convention, said it was unfortunate that some people in the party were doubting his sincerity.
“I made an undertaking that I will not contest the office of the chairman in the coming convention. It is my own undertaking. I’m under no compulsion to do so but I decided that I don’t want to be the chairman of this party again after the convention.
“Therefore, for anybody to come out to insinuate that ‘the National Chairman does not mean that, I think is most unfortunate.”
He said that the fact he would not re-contest does not mean that other members of the National Working Committee (NWC) who would forfeit their tenures at the planned convention, would not also re-contest as it was within their right to ask for fresh mandate.
On the zoning, he reiterated that the agreement that the national chairman should come from the south while the presidential candidate would emerge from the north.
He said it was the national convention planning committee that would decide what particular part of the south the new national chairman would come from.