Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike and his Ekiti State counterpart, Ayo
\nFayose were the masterminds of the emergence of a former governor of Borno
\nstate, Ali Modu Sherrif as the new chairman of the Peoples Democratic
\nParty (PDP), investigations have revealed.<\/p>\n
Their action, now causing a whirlwind of protests in the party, was also
\nsaid to have the backing of some members of the PDP National Working
\nCommittee (NWC) in a move seen by close watchers of the party as capable
\nof decimating it.<\/p>\n
Already, feelers from the party last night indicated that the emergence of
\nSherrif was threatening mass defection as some key members of the PDP
\nremained adamant not to accept him as chairman of the party.<\/p>\n
The leaders of PDP who spoke on the condition of anonymity claimed that
\nSherrif\u2019s emergence would cause more trouble for the party than solve as
\nthey unanimously rejected him.<\/p>\n
Several knocks have trailed the announcement of Sherrif as the new
\nchairman of the PDP, largely seen as an \u201coutsider\u201d in the party on account
\nof relative short span of his membership, having decamped to the party
\ntowards the last general election.<\/p>\n
Ali Modu Sherrif was until then a leading member of the All Nigeria
\nPeoples Party (ANPP), who also played key roles in the merger of legacy
\nparties that formed the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).<\/p>\n
Much of the criticisms and rejection of his choice were traced to his
\npolitical antecedents which were said to have raised questions about his
\nsuitability to lead the PDP at this period as an opposition party. Some
\nPDP leaders who spoke with our correspondent last night also considered
\nhis political baggage not only in Borno State but in national politics as
\n\u201climiting factors.\u201d<\/p>\n
He lost Borno State to the APC in the last election.<\/p>\n
Sources claimed that his political antecedents were the main issues why
\nkey members of the party were against his choice and not surprisingly that
\nmembers of the BoT staged a walkout when his choice was made known last
\nMonday.<\/p>\n
A source informed that the PDP BoT will not ratify the choice of Sherrif
\ngiven his antecedents and going by the negative reactions that have
\ntrailed his emergence.<\/p>\n
His choice has also polarized the entire North East where he hails from, a
\nmajor issue of contention because lack of consensus from the zone meant he
\nlacked the home support.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur leaders will do everything to save the party. They know that the
\nchoice of Ali Modu Sherrif was the handiwork of a few governors and some
\nNWC members who do not mean well for the party. All they are interested in
\nis to advance their own selfish agenda\u201d, the source said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike and his Ekiti State counterpart, Ayo Fayose were the masterminds of the emergence of a former governor of Borno state, Ali Modu Sherrif as the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":46614,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n