The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described Ali Modu Sheriff as an impostor hired by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to destroy the party.
The Ahmed Makarfi led caretaker committee of the PDP issued the accusation on Tuesday at a media briefing where Prince Dayo Adeyeye, spokesman of the committee said the aim of the APC was to scuttle the chances of the PDP in the upcoming governorship election in Edo State.
Sheriff was removed as party chairman at the 21st May botched national convention of the party in Port Harcourt, where the caretaker committee was picked to take charge of the party’s affairs.
But Sheriff had on Monday stormed the party headquarters and seized the secretariat from the caretaker committee. He then vowed to stay in the office as chairman till December 2018.
But Adeyeye said, “The All APC has contracted Sheriff and his cohorts to scuttle the chances of the PDP in the Edo governorship elections.
“We have credible intelligence that Sheriff had a meeting on Sunday night with an APC governor from the Northwest where it was agreed that he would be given full security and financial support to exacerbate the crisis in the PDP with the objective of preventing the PDP from presenting a candidate for the Edo governorship elections, or in the very least, to prevent the PDP from offering a serious challenge to APC whose electoral fortunes have continued to nose-dive.
“What we are however very certain about is that Sheriff and his fellow renegades are being used by the enemies of the PDP to destroy our party and to prevent it from reorganizing itself so as to provide a credible opposition and alternative platform for the forthcoming Edo State gubernatorial election and the 2019 general elections.”
In a swift reaction on the same day, the APC denied having anything to do with the leadership crisis currently rocking it’s arc rival, the PDP, saying the party was suffering from the sins of the past.
In a statement signed by its National Secretary, Alhaji Mai Mala Buni, the APC said: “For the umpteenth time, the APC wishes to state that instead of joining issues with the baseless and laughable allegations, the APC would rather join issues on matter that will bring about all-inclusive development to the country.
“However, it should be put on record that the PDP forced on itself whatever crisis it is troubled with today due to its politics of imposition and other undemocratic practices which the APC abhors.
“The PDP should put its house in order rather than playing to the gallery and blaming others but themselves for their sins which has come to hunt them. Also, it is evident that the PDP has chosen to employ diversionary tactics because of its inability to produce credible candidates for the forthcoming elections in Edo and Ondo States.”
