Deputy National Chairman Cairo Ojougboh
Factional Deputy National Chairman
LThe Ali Sheriff faction of the Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP, said it has identified
impunity and lack of respect for the party’s
constitution and the rule of law as the major
problems that led to the its failure in the Edo
and Ondo governorship elections.
Many have expressed the belief that the
decision of Mr. Sheriff and his supporters to
factionalise the PDP led to its failure in the
elections.


The faction, at a media briefing on Monday in
Abuja, however said the blame for the losses
falls on three governors elected under the
platform of the party.
Although the faction did not mention the
names of the three governors, it has been
engaged in running battles with governors
Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, Ayodele Fayose
of Ekiti State and Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo
State.
Monday’s press briefing, addressed by the
Deputy National Chairman of the faction,
Cairo Ojougbo, said ” in all these difficult
times only three governors have been the
architects of the destruction of the party”.
Mr. Ojougbo said only the governors of
“Taraba, Gombe, Bayelsa, Cross Rivers and a
few others have been very cooperative and are
willing to let the party grow. They have shown
maturity, understanding and sagacity in the
affairs of the PDP.”

THE BEGINNING OF OUR DOWNFALL
The Sheriff faction recalled that the impact of impunity in the
PDP manifested itself for the first time in the 2011 general
elections when the defunct Congress for Progressive Change,
CPC, defeated the PDP in Nasarawa State.
“We had a sitting governor then who could not deliver. This
was the first warning against impunity. It was ignored.
“Then in 2015 we had
governors in Benue,
Kogi, Niger, Jigawa,
Plateau, Kaduna,
Katsina, Kebbi, Bauchi
and Adamawa. We lost
in all these states for a
common reason, the
governors were not
unpopular but they
imposed their surrogates
and the people voted
them out. We paid for impunity,” Mr. Ojougbo said.
The faction argued that an analysis of the 2015 general
election showed that all the ten states the party lost were in the
northern part of the country, adding that even south-south
states would not have survived if former President Goodluck
Jonathan did not hail from the region. It said the figures that
emanated from the south-east were also “abysmal”.
Mr. Ojougbo said the outcome of the 2015 election proved
that although governors are very important in winning
elections for a party, they do not necessarily determine the
outcome.
“The running of the party should therefore not be left entirely
to their whims and caprices. The party must have a say
because party is supreme. In the case of Mimiko’s Ondo, the
party was denied the valuable say,” he said.
The party leader also said that the faction had cried to all
concerned ahead of the Edo election that the party hierarchy
in the state was defective and that the Leadership needed to be
changed “to allow the 60 stalwarts of the PDP who defected to
APC return to the fold.”
“Of course the
governors refused.
There was no
surprise to the result.
“In Ondo State, the
script was written in
2013 when Governor
Mimiko returned to
PDP. All members he
met on the ground
left the party for him
and he took over the
PDP. The structure was handed over to the Labour Party.
“If Oke had not gone to AD and Mimiko managed leadership
sportsmanly, PDP would have won the election convincingly.
“In the election, APC scored 244,842 votes while PDP scored
150,380 and AD scored 126,889 votes. It is a fact that the AD
votes belong to PDP and the simple arithmetic shows why PDP
lost; our votes went to Oke and AD,” he said.
He also said that when Mr. Mimiko returned to the PDP, his
fellow governors appealed to him to allow for harmonization
but he refused.
He said all the PDP members led by Olusola Oke therefore left
the party.
Mr. Ojougbo said in choosing a candidate to succeed him, Mr.
Mimiko did not allow original members of the PDP to buy
forms.
“He mainly anointed Eyitayo Jegede (SAN) who was returned
unopposed.
“Party members cried to the high heavens that Jegede is from
the central zone where Mimiko hails from. Their cries fell on
deaf ears,” he said.
He also said the primary election organised by the Sheriff
faction had six participants which returned Jimoh Ibrahim as
the candidate.
“Jimoh hails
from the
South. He
campaigned
vigorously
and convinced
the people to
vote for him.
But alas
Mimiko will
not allow him carry the party flag.
“Mimiko used the instrumentality of state government to
overwhelm Jimoh but could not overwhelm the masses and
voters. Of course the result is out there for all to see,” he said.
Sheriff independent of Buhari, APC
Mr. Ojougbo also said the accusation that Mr. Sheriff was
doing the bidding of Nigeria’s ruling APC is not tenable.
He said it was PDP governors who invited Mr. Sheriff to be the
chairman of the party. He also said when he (Sheriff) assumed
office, he put in place a committee to conduct a National
Convention to “elect people of good character to run the
affairs of the party”.
He added that Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State
was appointed the chairman of the zoning committee.
“The Governors met and decided that Sen. Ali Modu Sheriff
should continue in office. The question is ‘was it Mr.
President, General Buhari or the APC who sourced Senator
Sheriff for the PDP’?
“Was it the APC who chaired the zoning committee that zoned
chairmanship to Sheriff? The answer is No.
“We therefore call
on all Nigerians to
discountenance the
idea that Sheriff is
working for the
APC. Sheriff was
offered the
senatorial ticket in
the last general
election after he
left the APC.
Senator Ali Modu Sheriff is a complete PDP faithful whose
desire it is to reposition the party.
“Truth be told, Sheriff is insisting that power be returned to
the people,” he said.
Mr. Ojougbo also spoke about the belief that Mr. Sheriff was a
sponsor of the terrorist group, Boko Haram,
He said it is on record that when Mr. Sheriff was governor of
Borno State, he suppressed and completely routed the Boko
Haram.
“Boko Haram Killed 5 members of his family in the process of
his fight against them.
“But when the current Governor of Borno State, Shettima, took
over office, Boko Haram became emboldened, virulent and
malignant.
“Note also that Shettima became governor because Boko
Haram killed the man who was to be governor. His death
paved way for the emergence of Shettima who willingly and
deliberately encouraged Boko Haram.
“Sen. Ali Modu Sheriff has taken to court the Attorney
General of Borno State who claimed that Sheriff is Boko
Haram in Suit No. FCT/HC/CU/2494/2016 between Senator
Dr. Ali Modu Sheriff vs. Barrister Kaka Shehu Lawan and 3
others which is currently ongoing,” he said.
Mr. Ojougbo said although the faction does not comment on
individuals, but “for the sake of the survival of the party we
take exceptions to the utterances of Prince Adeyeye”.
He said Mr. Adeyeye, spokesperson of the Ahmed Makarfi
PDP faction, is attacking Mr. Sheriff’s faction believing that
he will be awarded the governorship ticket of Ekiti State.
The sheriff faction, however, warned that if the PDP is not
restructured, even if he ( Adeyeye) is awarded the ticket
“which we know Fayose will not do, it will be an exercise in
futility and a waste of time like Eyitayo Jegede’s”.
Mr. Ojougbo said Mr. Sheriff is the agent of change for the
PDP and multiparty democracy in Nigeria.
“Sen. Ali Modu Sheriff remains the only and authentic
National Chairman of the PDP and the NWC remains the only
administrative body authorized by law to run the party.”
He concluded the briefing by calling on all party members to
unite or the PDP will be dead forever.