Sheriff to Fayose: We’re serious with peace moves

CLAIMANT to the office of the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ali Sheriff has admonished Ekiti State governor, Ayo Fayose to allow the new move towards the resolution of the leadership crisis to succeed.

Following the joint press conference where both Sheriff’s faction and the National Caretaker Committee led by Senator Ahmed Makarfi announced their resolve to bury the hatchet and forge unity Fayose had posited that the move would not work as according to him, only the Court of Appeal could settle the rift.

The governor had also said that the governors under the PDP had not been consulted while the cases in court have not been withdrawn.

Fayose had said: “That move, you see, I’m not against anything called resolution within the party but everybody must wait for Court of Appeal to resolve this matter.

“Matters are in court, nobody has withdrawn any matter and they are resolving. What are you resolving?

“When matters are in court you allow court to lay them to rest. The moment this thing doesn’t go with one side, they will tell you we are still in court.

“Allow the court to take a stand and reconciliation would be made easy. I’m not against anybody reconciling with each other but when you get to that meeting, ask the coverners if governors were briefed.

“I was not briefed. I am not the only person in the party but  then, I have a stake.”

But speaking after swearing in the new factional executive committee of Delta State PDP in Abuja on Friday, Sheriff who was represented his deputy, Cairo Ojuogboh, advised Fayose to key into the new peace move.

He was adamant that Sheriff and Makarfi were committed to the reconciliation effort irrespective of the outcome of the cases in court.

He said: “We want to tell Nigerians that the two leaders (Sheriff and Makarfi) are committed to reconciliation, and to encourage our teeming supporters that the statement made by Fayose has no bearing on the reconciliation.

“In spite of what the Appeal Court or Supreme Court decides, there would still be need for peace.

“It is either we do it before or after the court judgement.

“We want to appeal to Fayose to key into the peace process that the two leaders are championing.”

Administering the oath of office on the new state executive committee led by Austin Ogbabu, the chairman stressed the need for the state to remain a PDP state.

He therefore advised the new leadership to uphold the confidence reposed in them by the party members in the state and called on them to carry everybody along.

Ojuogboh reiterated that peace has returned to the opposition party, saying, “no attempt to derail it will succeed.”

In his response, Ogbabu said he was aware that there has been crisis in the party which had caused some members to defect to other political parties.

He assured that he would work hard to ensure that all the members who had left were brought back to the PDP in the state.

He said: “I know that there is crisis and people are defecting  but I want to assure that we will bring them back.

“We will mend all fences in Delta to keep it PDP. From now on, nobody will defect to another party. We will deliver on any election.”