Fresh crisis hits PDP as court reinstates Sheriff National Chairman

• As court declares him authentic PDP chairman

Court of Appeal sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital, on Friday declared Senator Ali Modu Sheriff as authentic chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

A three-man panel of the appellate court delivered the verdict on the leadership tussle rocking Nigeria’s major opposition party.

Sheriff and former Governor of Kaduna State, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, are both laying claim to the party chairmanship position.

Makarfi was appointed the chairman of the PDP National Caretaker Committee at last year’s botched national convention of the party held in Port Harcourt.

Meanwhile, the counsel to Sheriff’s faction of the PDP, Prince Ajibola Oloyede, has described the appellate court verdict as “all round victory for justice and truth.”

“One can only hope that the PDP will take this as a clean slate to rebuild a party that can stand the test of time,” he said.

With this judgement Senator Sheriff is back to political reckoning as he will legally preside over the affairs of the party, against the black outs, he got from the Independent National Electoral Commission, when his candidate for Ondo gubernatorial race Mr Jimoh Ibrahim was thrown out to Favour candidate of the Ahmed Makarfi faction Eyitayo Jegede.