The gains by the Sheriff tendency in the party came as Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State asked factional chairman, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, to step down his claim upon the reality of the Court of Appeal judgment upholding Sheriff as national chairman.
Meanwhile, PDP National Chairman, Sheriff, has applied to Supreme Court seeking to stop Ahmed Makarfi from using the party's name to challenge the ruling of the Court of Appeal in Port Harcourt which affirmed him as the authentic chairman of the party.
Besides Governor Dickson, who is the chairman of the party’s Peace and Reconciliation Committee, Governor Dave Umuahi of Ebonyi State, Governor Ben Ayade and the party’s two Northern governors were also said to have tilted support towards Senator Sheriff.
Vanguard reports that Governor Umahi had technically given recognition to Sheriff after he got the later to endorse the party’s candidates for the forthcoming local government elections in Ebonyi State. Besides a statement from Cross River State chapter of the party endorsing Sheriff, Governor Ayade has also openly appeared with Sheriff in public engagements.
Meanwhile, Governor Dickson who asked party leaders to accept the Court of Appeal judgment vesting leadership on Sheriff, in an interview in Abuja, said the crisis rocking the party was fuelled by the selfish desire to control the party ahead of the 2019 elections. He warned that the interest of the party should be placed above selfish ambitions of some governors.
The governor, who has been attacked by the Makarfi faction for turning the report of his committee to Sheriff, pointed out that it would have been wrong for his committee to have done otherwise given the legal status vested on Sheriff by the Court of Appeal judgment.
Dickson said he's not a supporter of Sheriff, he said he was compelled by the rule of law to accept him as National Chairman based on the court order and in the overall interest of the PDP.
The governor said it was appalling for many leaders in the party, who claimed to be democrats to treat the court verdict recognising Sheriff as the national chairman of the PDP with disdain, pointing out that such disposition would lead to the collapse of PDP, if not checked.
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