BEVERLY HILLS, April 09, (THEWILL) – Governor of Ekiti state, Ayodele Fayose, and the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ali Modu Sheriff, have gone for each other with names, accusations and counter accusations as the crisis in the party deepens.
Fayose, in a statement reacting to the walk-out of Sheriff on former President Goodluck Jonathan at a stakeholders meeting on Thursday described Sheriff as a virus that has infected the party, saying “God will cure him permanently”.
THEWILL recalls that Sheriff had said Jonathan did not accord him the respect he deserved as the Chairman of the Party which eventually led to a premature end to the peace meeting called by Jonathan as Sheriff walked out.
But Fayose declared that if Sheriff could not sit with Jonathan, party members should have nothing to do with him asserting that it was now obvious that Sheriff was working with the enemies of the PDP.
“From what Ali Modu Sheriff did at the meeting, it should now be clear to all well-meaning Nigerians that he is not acting on his own,” he said in a statement.
“He is an agent of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and by extension an enemy of democracy in Nigeria. The man Ali Modu Sheriff is an impostor, an impossible character, agent of darkness, an APC-sent to destroy our party.
“If he cannot sit with the leader of our party, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, I am also telling him that we in the PDP are also not interested in holding any discussion with him. He is a virus that has infected the PDP and by the grace of God, he will be cured permanently.
“He grew up the black leg of every organisation. His flirting with Obasanjo/PDP destroyed the All Peoples Party (APP) and ANPP. He is at again but this will be the last of the series. He is a serial plotter.
“I regret my association with him, I regret bringing him forth. I will not work with him again, he betrays confidence and does not represent peace and hope. I will not be part of any meeting with such a dirty desperado.”
However, Sheriff has declared that the party is ready to call the bluff of its governors that are not ready to accept him stating that the party would not defend any of the governors when the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) comes after them on how they spent state money while in office.
Speaking with the PUNCH through his deputy, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh, Sheriff said the party was ready to move on without the governors who refused to join hands in rebuilding the party specifically saying that Fayose and the governor of Rivers state, Nyesom Wike, were free to leave the party if they so desired.
“We are moving on with the determination to reposition the party. We are not interested in the funding of the party from the governors. They are free to leave if they want to, especially Wike and Fayose,” Ojougboh declared.
“We are also not interested in their money. The party belongs to the people, they will finance it. So, if the governors want to withhold money from the party, they are free. We don’t receive stolen money. They have not been funding us and we are surviving.
“The party is already planning a nationwide campaign. We are already in the South-East where he said the campaign would start. We are starting with Anambra, Imo, Ebonyi, Enugu and Abia states, and then we will move to Cross River State. The party belongs to the people and not to governors who will want to steal people’s money.”
