Sheriff takes over PDP secretariat, Makarfi tells police to ‘flush him out’

Ali Modu Sheriff, factional chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has taken over the Wadata Plaza headquarters of the opposition party, which had been shut since May.

The police sealed off the place to prevent a clash between Sheriff’s group and that of Ahmed Makarfi.

But late Thursday, Sheriff’s supporters reportedly broke into the place to pave way for his entry.

Reacting, Makarfi’s faction asked the police to “flush out” Sheriff and his supporters, wondering how the factional leader had access to the place when the keys were with the party’s board of trustees (BoT).

Threatening to hold Sheriff responsible for any loss of document at the secretariat, Makarfi said Sheriff should have waited till the case was concluded at the supreme court before taking over the secretariat.

“We also call on authority of the Nigerian Police to prevent chaos by flushing Ali Modu Sheriff and his team out of the PDP secretariat and let all parties wait for the judgement of the supreme court which is the highest court in the land,” read a statement signed by Dayo Adeyey, spokesman of the Makarfi group.

“The take over of the secretariat of the party by Senator Modu Sheriff is illegal and most unwelcome. Sheriff should be held responsible for any lose of party document and property.

“We say this because the keys to the secretariat is with the board of trustees and we’ve checked with them, and can confirm that the keys were not handed over to Sheriff or any of his followers

“The implication of this is that he broke into the secretariat which is a criminal offence. We condemn his action in totality and we view it as an affront on the rule of law. Given his act of illegality, we stated clearly that he should be held responsible for any loss of documents or damage to the property within the party secretariat.

“The administrative staff as accounting officers were not around to see the event happen, as the custodians of the property of the party, they refused to participate in the illegal entry made by Modu Sheriff.”

The Makarfi faction said Sheriff’s action was capable of causing another round of crisis in the party.