PDP chair: I won't resign, Sheriff insists

As the clamour for his exit mounts, the new National Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, has assumed office and vowed not to resign.
He urged those calling for his resignation to sheathe their swords as he had come to stay to rebuild the party.
Sheriff asserted on Monday in Abuja that those clamouring for his resignation lacked the moral right to challenge his victory.
But the PDP Board of Trustee (BoT) yesterday insisted that Sheriff lacks the credibility to lead the party.
Sheriff, who formally took over from the PDP Acting National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, explained that he is not a Boko Haram sponsor, stressing that the party undeservedly lost the 2015 general elections.
The former governor of Borno State appealed to the founding fathers and leaders of the party to sheathe their swords and join him to rebuild the party.
He said that the former Aviation Minister, Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode, would not go scot free for accusing him and tying him with the activities of Boko Haram.
When asked of his tenure, Sheriff explained that he does not know the end of his term, adding that the leaders of the party would determine that.
“I am here to rebuild the party. What time we need to do this job will be determined by the leaders and owners of the party when they sit down collectively to discuss. For me, taking over office today, I cannot tell you when I am leaving; I will only tell you when the party leaders sit down and see what is the immediate time to do this job; if they decide, I am ready for it,” he said.
Sheriff also said: “The man that was reading the press conference (Wilberforce Juta) got one vote and he’s asking me to resign.

 Therefore, I will not resign.
“The leadership of this party in their wisdom asked me to lead. If the NEC of this party collectively asks me to leave, I will leave. But not somebody who contested an election and got one vote. I think if there is morality, he should not even go to the television.
“In this country, people are allowed to say what they want. You want something, you get into the party, the party has submitted your name. In the midst of everybody, you got one vote and you go outside and ask the chairman to resign. My brother, where is the credibility? Where is the justice? I would have listened to him better if he did not aspire to be one.
“Therefore, I do not plan to resign; I will not resign, I will reposition this party and take it to election within a timeframe decided by the leaders of this party to conduct a credible, effective congress that will stand the test of time.”
On Boko Haram, he said: “I assure you that those people like

 Fani-Kayode levelling me with the outlawed group ‘will not go scot-free.’
“There is nobody in the possession of the truth about the Boko Haram that has ever indicted me, rather the Boko Haram who had killed my blood brother and people close to me were targeting me for making life uncomfortable for them while I was governor of the state.”
He explained that his problem started when he resisted the Boko Haram from Islamising the state.
In its reaction, the BoT said that Sheriff is not an option to be the national chairman of the party.
The Acting Chairman of the BoT, Senator Walid Jibril, at a press conference in Abuja, said: “We as the conscience of the party are still of the strong view that Senator Ali Modu Sheriff is not an option to be the chairman of the party’s National Chairman.”

The BoT’s decision, which came after the national chairman had assumed office as chairman, will further stand as a stumbling block for Sheriff to succeed.
Jibril, who declined further comments on the issue, said they are still consulting on Sheriff’s leadership.
This is even as former Minister of Transport and member of the BoT, Chief Ojo Madueke, said he had never expressed opinion anywhere to lead the party.
While speaking with newsmen at the occasion, Madueke said that leaving PDP is not an option for him.
He explained that the PDP made some mistakes, adding that the party did not build on its successes and also did not check impunity, which eventually led to its fall.