From: Paul Osuyi, Asaba
Members of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), loyal to the Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, have prayed earnestly for the full recovery of President Muhammadu Buhari who is attending to his health in the United Kingdom.
The prayer session was the high point of a town hall meeting for stakeholders of the factional PDP in the South-South geo-political zone which held at Agbor, Ika South Local Government Area of Delta State.
The factional PDP chairman, who addressed the mammoth crowd of loyalists at the event, thereafter led the prayer session for quick recovery of the president.
Sheriff said irrespective of political party differences, President Buhari is the President and Commander-in-Chief as far as the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is concerned.
He continued, “We don’t wish sickness for anybody. The president is one at a time, he (Buhari) is our president toady, regardless of political party differences. So we must pray for him to recover from his present health condition,” Sheriff said.
Speaking earlier, Sen. Sheriff told party faithful that the PDP was a law- abiding political party and would respect and adhere to whatever the Appeal Court would decide on Friday in the suit regarding the leadership crisis rocking the party.
He said the party lost most of the elections in 2015 as a result of impunity, adding that he was in the saddle as chairman to end the reign of impunity, which according to him, most governors on the platform of the PDP, were not comfortable with.
Sheriff expressed his determination to take the party back to the grassroots where the people would be given a free hand in electing those to fly the party’s flag in any election.
“At a stage, PDP had 29 governors but today we have just 12 because of impunity, if you elect a candidate, somebody in Abuja will substitute his name for another. They can’t do that with me. I don’t need any hand out. I can run my house, I can pay my children’s fees.
“I was governor for eight years, I left the senate as a leader. I have done everything that needs to be done, what is left for me now is to return the PDP back to the owners. Take it to the grassroots so that it will be you that will choose your leaders,” Sheriff added.
He stated that governors and other leaders of the party across Nigeria who came to his home to beg him to become party chairman, later realised that he is a man of independent mind who cannot be manipulated, hence their desire to kick him out.
“Let me put the record straight, I never bargained to be national chairman of the PDP. I was sitting in the comfort of my house when leaders of the party across the country came and appealed to me to come and revamp the party.
“They later found out that I am a chairman that nobody can control. We went to Port Harcourt for a convention, and in my zone, North-East where the position was zoned to, everybody had endorsed me, it was then they discovered that nobody can be stop me.
“Then, there was a court order that also stopped the election, and I canceled the convention. After we left, some people gathered and said they have out up a caretaker committee which is an aberration.
“So, we said we will wait for the last hope of the common man which the courts to tell us who is right or who is wrong. Our tenure is still running as national officers of the party until you do another convention which must be presided over by me. We are law abiding party, whatever the court says, we will abide by it,” the factional PDP chairman said.