From: Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) chieftain and senator representing Ogun East Senatorial zone, Senator Buruji Kashamu, on Thursday, urged members of the party to support the National chairman, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff in his bid to reposition the party.
In a statement issued, in Abuja, Sen. Kashamu said since the Court of Appeal has declared Sheriff as the national chairman of the PDP, there was need for members of the party, including those loyal to the Senator Ahmed Makarfi led caretaker committee, to rally round him, while they wait on the Supreme Court verdict on the party crisis.
The Ogun State-born Senator urged members of the party to ignore calls from any quarter to pursue their political aspirations on the platform of any other political party.
Kashamu also called on party members to support plans by the PDP to organise an all embracing convention, once the apex court gives its judgment in leadership crisis that has polarised the opposition party in the last one year.
According to him, :“There is no perfect relationship or organization anywhere. People, especially politicians, are bound to agree and disagree. We disagree, negotiate and build consensus. You do not say because you did not have your way in the struggle for the control of the party structure, and then the party must be destroyed. We are all members of the same body – the PDP – and there can only be one National Chairman and National Working Committee (NWC) at a time.
“It is irrelevant whether it is Senator Sheriff or Senator Makarfi that is in charge of the party at the moment. Now that the Court of Appeal has pronounced Senator Sheriff as the authentic National Chairman of our party, the most important thing is who emerges as the National Chairman, going forward and the process leading thereto.”
Kashamu added that :”Since the judgment of the Court of Appeal, many of the PDP governors and their followers who were in support of the sacked National Caretaker Committee have since retraced their steps. Senator Makarfi and the recalcitrant few should respect the court from which they seek respite and accept the status quo. If tomorrow, Senator Makarfi wins the appeal at the Supreme Court, so be it. No one can ask me to leave the PDP or ‘seek alternative platforms’ just because the table has turned.”