TheCable

The Ali Modu Sheriff faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has expressed shock over the judgment of the supreme court which affirmed Ahmed Makarfi as the party’s authentic chairman.

The faction’s reaction is contained in a statement signed by Cairo Ojuogboh and Bernard Mikko, the erstwhile deputy chairman and spokesperson, respectively.

“We received with shock the 12th July judgement of the Supreme Court on the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party,” the statement read.

“Though we still await the full written judgement of the highest court from our lawyers who will fully brief us on the details of the judgement. In the interim, we ask all members and supporters to remain steadfast in prayers for Nigeria.

“Meanwhile, we continue with our avowed demands that the party must be given back to the owners at the grassroots to always elect their party officials and those to contest elections for them at all levels. Internal democracy must be institutionalized in the party.”

The supreme court ruling on Wednesday ended a 14-month leadership battle.

The three-man panel of judges led by Walter Onnoghen, chief justice of Nigeria (CJN), held that the national convention which brought in the leadership of Makarfi should not have been disregarded by the appeal court based on the party’s constitution.

Markafi has since then taken over the party’s secretariat which had on different occasions been sealed off by the police owing to the leadership tussle between him and Sheriff.