PDP CRISIS: WHY SHERIFF WILL FIGHT TO THE END.
by Adeyemi Taiwo
He has been called different names by his opponents from a tyrant, betrayal and power obsessed politician but with the appeal court judgment in his favor, Sen. Ali Modu Sheriff appears to be ahead of his challengers, Sen. Ahmed Makarfi and his caretaker committee.
He was a chieftain of All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) that merged with others progressive political parties to form All Progressive Congress (APC) ahead of 2015 general election. He left the party to PDP because of APC failure to handover the party structure in Borno State to him being a two term governor then a serving senator, the party structure was handed over to his estranged political son and the incumbent Governor Shettima of the state.
He believed with all his effort to ensure that the new party become a reality, he deserved to control the party structure in the state which Sen. Ahmed Bola Tinubu is enjoying in Lagos state.
Aftermath of his new party PDP to retain power at the central in the last general election, he was approached to be an acting National Chairman of the party by some Governors and party leader for six months after which a convention will be conducted to elect new National Working Committee (NWC) that will recapture power in 2019. The same people told him to contest for the same seat towards the expiration of his six months in acting capacity despite warning from Concerned PDP members headed by Prof. Jerry Gana that the new chairman should come from the south. It was at the port Harcourt convention that the bubble burst between Sen. Sheriff and his cohort that led to the emergence of Sen. Ahmed Makarfi's caretaker committee.
Sen. Sheriff is fighting back at his enemies within the party that pushed him to the port Harcourt convention and later went behind to adopt Makarfi's caretaker committee. He is fighting for his pride and dignity that he is not a man that can be used and dumped.
With Sen. Makarfi determination to flush him out of the party, if the Supreme Court judgment favours him. Sen. Ali Modu Sheriff will enter political oblivion with his heart in 2019 general election to determine the next Governor of Borno state and teach all that betrayed in the state political lesson. He can never go back to APC, the only alternative for him to stay afloat in the political arena in this country is to fight with his blood and the chairman of PDP after which he can preside over a convention that will produce loyal NWC to bite all his political opponents and remain relevant in the country.