From Laide Raheem, Abeokuta

The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the South-West yesterday passed a vote of confidence in Senator Ali Modu-Sheriff as the national chairman of the party.

The party in the South-East had passed a similar vote in Ahmed Makarfi-led national executive of the party, last week.

Rising from an expanded South-West PDP committee meeting in Ijebu-Igbo, Ogun State, yesterday, the party acknowledged and affirmed the leadership of the party under Sheriff and his efforts to reposition it.

Reading the communiqué, National Vice Chairman/Zonal Chairman, South-West PDP, Chief Makanjuola Ogundipe, said all hands must be on deck to move the party forward and put it in good stead for the task ahead.

The communiqué  further urged party members to pray for the quick recovery of President Muhammadu Buhari in order to continue his anti-corruption crusade.

In his remarks, Sheriff said he would continue to work for the progress of the party and return it to the grassroots.

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Senator Sheriff, who stated that he would not be provoked by the statement of the party’s Chairman of the PDP Strategy Review Committee, Prof. Jerry Gana, said he would stand in the way of any individual who wants to corner the party for “selfish reasons.”

on his part, former Deputy Senate President, Alhaji Ibrahim Mantu, attributed the crisis rocking the party to lack of internal democracy, imposition of candidates and impunity of some individuals within PDP.

Mantu, who is the deputy chairman of PDP Reconciliation Committee, said the party bungled the goodwill it enjoyed for 16 years by allowing internal wrangling to fester, urging leaders of the party to shelve personal interests and work towards mending the cracks in the party.

He reiterated that leaders and members of the party must come together to settle their differences, if PDP is serious of taking mantle of leadership from the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2019.

“All hands must be on deck to ensure total victory in the entire South-West and Nigeria in 2019. Our detractors had expected the crack in the family to be the beginning of our end. Tell them that the lion was just sleeping to conserve more energy and make a minced meat of them in 2019. No matter how much weight an elephant loses, it can never be compared to a cow,” he said.

The meeting was attended by the national chairman of PDP, Senator Sheriff, his deputy, Dr. Cairo Ojugbo, acting National Publicity Secretary, Bernard Niko, former Federal Capital Territory (FCT) minister, Alhaji Mohammed Abba Gana, Senator Chris Anyanwu and leadership of the party from Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, Lagos, Ondo and Ogun states.