PDP crisis: Ignore Sheriff’s advert, no vacancy in secretariat – Makarfi

Senator Ahmed Makarfi, the Chairman of the National Caretaker Committee of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has said that there is no vacancy at the party’s National Secretariat, Abuja.

Makari stated this in a statement by the committee’s Publicity Secretary, Mr Dayo Adeyeye, on Thursday in Abuja.

He said that the attention of the caretaker committee had been drawn to some newspaper publication “Vacancies in the PDP National Secretariat’’.
He said that the report was credited to Prof. Wale Oladipo, National Secretary to Ali Modu Sheriff, who advertised for various offices in the PDP secretariat, declaring them vacant.
“We wish to state unequivocally that there are no vacancies for employment at the National Secretariat of our great party, PDP.
“All the staffers of the party, in line with the Establishment Manual, are intact and standing strong with all the organs of the PDP in its bid to salvage the party from destroyers,’’ Makarfi said.

Makarfi said that Oladipo was ignorant of the position of the recent Appeal Court judgment of February 17, which ordered PDP to revert to the status quo before May 21, 2016.
He described the publication as a ploy by Sheriff and his “cohorts’’ to disengage the establishment staff of the party for acting in line with their constitutional mandate and convictions.
“The vexatious publication is a cheap blackmail designed to intimidate our hardworking and highly principled staff. It belongs to the trash bin and should be ignored.
“Nigerians, our members and teeming supporters may wish to note that the self-appointed National Working Committee as currently constituted under Sheriff cannot form a quorum to take any valid decision.

“Unless Senator Ali Sheriff complies with the Appeal Court ruling of status quo ante of May 21, 2017, any decision taken by the present illegal NWC is not binding and will be challenged before the court of competent jurisdiction.’’
Makarfi said that though the Court of Appeal judgment was for Sheriff and his group, the National Caretaker Committee was still in full operation given that its appeal against the judgment was before the Supreme Court.
“This is more so that the Committee still enjoy the support of the entire organs of the party.’’
He stated that the action of Sheriff and his NWC in recent times were completely against the spirit of the political solution they have professed to abide with.
He said that Sheriff could not be declaring support for political solution to end the party leadership crisis and at the same time igniting fire by taken decisions capable of causing more rancour in PDP.
“As law-abiding party members and citizens of this great country, we shall continue to work with all the organs of PDP to make sure that this crisis is fully resolved”, Makarfi said.