I’m not Sheriff’s man- Dickson
Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, has discountenanced the popular notion that he has queued behind Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, to enforce his position as the Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) soon after the Court of Appeal sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, affirmed him as the authentic National Chairman of the party.
Conversely, Dickson has stated categorically that he is not a ‘Sheriff Man.’
While speaking with newsmen on Sunday in Abuja, Dickson, who is chairman of the PDP Reconciliation Committee, has rather called on the feuding leaders of the party to use the wisdom of Solomon as applied in the case of two women laying claim to a baby to solve the problem, which he said is self-inflicted.
Dickson, who did not mince words about his position on Sheriff as at the time the idea of making him the chairman of the party was hatched said: “When the idea of making Sheriff the National Chairman of our party was hatched, I personally kicked against it.
“I also turned down all the overtures from Sheriff because I did not believe in him.”
As a way out of the party’s current crisis, the Bayelsa State governor has said either of Sheriff or Ahmed Makarfi, Chairman of the National Working Committee of the PDP, must sacrifice to ensure that the party is not killed.
Speaking in this regard, he said: “Now, my position is that we have to move forward. “I and up to 80 per cent of the population of the PDP members were for Makarfi but the unfolding events have compelled us to adopt a political resolution instead of embarking on further bickering.
“The Makarfi-led caretaker committee should remember that it was a brainchild of the majority of the party members including me at a convention in Port Harcourt.
Dickson who described himself as a politician of conviction, and not a politician of convenience, further said: “As politicians and democrats, we must first obey the constitution and all other instruments of civil rule and which includes obeying the judiciary,’’ in a statement that suggests that Makarfi may be embarking on a futile trip to reclamation of the party from Sheriff.
In this light, he said: “We had expected that the Court of Appeal would give us judgment, but it rather upheld Sheriff as the National Chairman of the party.
“Whether anybody likes Sheriff’s face or not, the Makarfi-led caretaker committee was stripped of its authority to manage the affairs of the party the day the judgment was delivered.
“In fact, as it stands now, Sheriff has started addressing issues within the party, he is the one sending names of party members contesting elections in various states.
“If there is going to be a by-election in Kaduna today, Makarfi’s home state, INEC would not accept correspondences from Makarfi any longer because his business in the party has ended,’’ he said.
Dickson said Sheriff had always been disposed to political settlement of the crisis, adding that Makarfi had remained adamant.
“So the reconciliation committee which I chair met several times to review our position in the light of the Court of Appeal’s judgment.
“The reality is that Makarfi no longer has the legal backing to carry on with the task of managing the party.
“We are aware of this quagmire, and therefore, the reconciliation committee went ahead to formulate a realistic, practical and template to solve the problem.
“So if you said you are passionate about the survival of the party, then you should be willing to sacrifice your ambition.
Similarly, Dickson has said the crisis in PDP has caused Nigerians the opportunity to keep the All Progressives Congress (APC) –led government on track.
He said: “The party continues to fail Nigerians because the crisis has so far prevented it from being a sound credible opposition even in the face of bad governance in the country right now,” he said.
