By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor, Ben Agande & Joseph Erunke

Blame Jonathan for this — Gbagi
ABUJA—The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP was, last night, teetering on the brink, following the threat of mass abandonment of the party in the wake of the ascension of Senator Ali Sheriff as the new national chairman of the party.

In the National Assembly, Kabiru Marafa, a senator (APC, Zamfara Central) at the forefront of campaign for emergence of Senator Ahmed Lawan as Senate President during the campaign for the seat, may face suspension today in the Senate.

Marafa and Modu Sheriff

The planned suspension of Marafa will follow recommendations of the Senate Committee on Ethics and Public Petitions, which investigated him over alleged disparaging comments against the Senate and by extension, the National Assembly.

Two senators, Isah Misau, APC, Bauchi Central, and Matthew Urhoghide, PDP, Edo South, had petitioned the Senate last week, alleging unparliamentary conduct against the senator.

He is accused by the petitioners of making comments and publications in national dailies that demeaned the reputation of the National Assembly.

Six senators warn Marafa

This came as six Senators, including Tayo Alasoadura (APC, Ondo Central); Peter Nwaoboshi (PDP, Delta North); Rafiu Ibrahim (APC, Kwara South); Obinna Ogba (PDP, Ebonyi North); Isa Misau (APC, Bauchi Central) and Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi (APC, Niger North), warned Marafa that the Senate would no longer tolerate disparaging remarks against it and the entire National Assembly.

At the committee’s sitting in Abuja, yesterday, investigating his alleged uncomplimentary conduct, Marafa, who was expected to appear to defend himself over the allegation, failed to appear.

Before the committee began sitting, Marafa told Vanguard on telephone that he would honour the committee’s invitation to  defend himself, even as he said he got the committee’s invitation to appear through a text message from an unknown number. But Marafa was conspicuously absent throughout the one and half hours that the committee sitting lasted.

During the sitting, Senator Matthew Urhoghide (PDP, Edo South), told the committee that Marafa, in several interviews with some national dailies, alluded to claims by the former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo that the National Assembly was corrupt. He expressed disappointment over such accusations against a reputable arm of government saddled with the onerous task of ensuring good governance in the country.

According to him, Marafa made statements that infringed on the rights of the lawmakers and the legislature at large.

He said:  “On January  27, the electronic media was inundated with accusations by former President Olusegun Obasanjo and I saw it as an affront because facts were misplaced and I felt demeaned because of his deliberate attempt to malign us. I was not bothered about Obasanjo’s claims but on February 7, Senator Marafa granted an interview and what he said are in tandem with the claims of Obasanjo.

“I don’t think the 8th Senate has expressed any element of greed or recklessness. These are not friendly terms, they are despicable; so he should be called to explain how corrupt the Senate is. The committee should ask him why he colluded with Obasanjo to bring the reputation of the Senate down.”

Senator Urhoghide added that Marafa further made several unguarded statements about the Senate, including the constitution of standing committees, selection of new senators as heads of committees and proposed purchase of vehicles among others, and urged the Senate to invoke its Standing Rule by punishing Marafa to serve as deterrent and forestall a recurrence of similar statements from other lawmakers.

Committee chairman, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, said the committee would deliberate on the issue and report to the Senate on Tuesday for the appropriate action to be taken. He said:

“I got a letter dated February 17 from Sen. Marafa, signed by his legislative aide, indicating that the senator was out of town to condole with Sen. Suleiman Hunkuyi, who lost his mother. The letter further indicated that the senator would be back at the weekend and would be ready for hearing anytime this week. “

After the chairman spoke, newsmen were asked to leave after which the committee immediately went into a closed door session.

Vanguard gathered from a member of the committee, who declined to be named, that the committee recommended suspension of the senator.

Why I wasn’t there — Marafa

Speaking on why he failed to appear as earlier assured, Marafa later claimed he was not invited.

He described the submission of the clerk that he was duly invited as unfortunate because, according to him, the only invitation he received from the committee was duly responded to, stressing that he was not invited to the Monday sitting.

He said: “Being a member of the ethics committee for four years, I know the importance of the committee. I am ready to appear if I am duly invited. I respect the institution of the Senate and I will do everything to project its image positively.

“I have no reason to answer the text messages of the clerk apart having responded to a formal letter of invitation. I got the text inviting me to the committee’s hearing for Thursday, last week, which I replied. I called him again on Wednesday evening and he did not pick his call. Since then, I did not hear from anybody. Today, I received a phone call from the clerk asking whether I am coming for the hearing.

“I asked when he invited me to the meeting and he said he sent a text to me when he could not reach me. I went through all my phone messages and I did not see any text from him at all. I challenge the clerk to show me any evidence that he sent any text to me.”

Marafa said it would be unfair on the part of the committee to recommend any drastic action against him without hearing from him.

Ex-PDP ministers on warpath

Meanwhile, with former PDP ministers threatening dire consequences ahead of a meeting today, the Board of Trustees, BoT at the end of a meeting, last night, again rejected Sheriff as the national chairman of the party, saying he was not a suitable person to lead the party.

The meeting of the BoT, the second in as many weeks, came ahead of today’s meeting of former ministers who held office on the banner of the party and are spearheading the move to force Sheriff out. The anti-Sheriff campaign which was initially spearheaded by ministers who served under President Goodluck Jonathan was, yesterday, expanded to include all former ministers who served PDP presidents from 1999. Remarkably, Olorogun Kenneth Gbagi, a former minister who served under the Jonathan administration frontally accused former President Jonathan for the crisis in the party, saying he lacked the initiative to reposition the party while in office.

Meanwhile, Sheriff yesterday vowed not to resign and denied allegations of being a sponsor of Boko Haram, saying he was rather a victim of the militant Islamist group even as he threatened to sue one of the former ministers who accused him of being a sponsor of the violent group.

Speaking while taking over affairs of the party, Sheriff gave fillip to assertions that the term of the outgoing National Working Committee, NWC would be extended when he rebuffed questions on whether he would step down next month. The term of the NWC which he is to head is expected to end on March 21.

It was also alleged yesterday that the move to position Sheriff as national chairman was part of a plot by a new South-South governor working in cahoots with a colleague from the South-West to return members of the National Working Committee, NWC at the next national convention of the party.

“The plan is to cede the presidential ticket to the North and allow a member of the outgoing NWC emerge national chairman and they have simply enrolled Sheriff into the plot,” a former minister told Vanguard last night.

Rejecting Sheriff at the end of a meeting of the BoT last night which was presided over by acting chairman, Senator Wali Jubrin, the elders said they would offer a viable solution that would end the crisis.

“In a well attended meeting of the BOT, the board as a conscience of the party is still strongly of the view that Senator Ali Modu Sherrif is not a suitable candidate as chairman of our party. We have resolved to propose a viable solution to this matter,” he said.

Although Senator Jubrin did not expatiate on what the viable solution is, Vanguard gathered that members of the Board were to meet with  members of the party in the National Assembly as well as governors elected on the platform of the PDP.

A notice issued by chairman of the strategy committee of the PDP Ministers Forum, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode disclosed yesterday that today’s meeting would not be limited to only ministers who served under President Jonathan.

His words:

“The PDP Ministers Forum, under the able leadership of Alhaji Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, SAN, former Minister of Special Duties, will meet at 11.00am on Tuesday at Nicon Luxury Hotel in Abuja to deliberate on how to move our great party forward in view of recent developments. Contrary to some media reports, membership of the PDP Ministers Forum is not restricted to only Ministers that served between 2011 and 2015 and the meeting that will hold on Tuesday is not just for the Ministers that served under President Goodluck Jonathan. The meeting is for ALL PDP Ministers that are still in the party and that served between 1999 to 2015.”

Blame Jonathan for this — Gbagi

Gbagi speaking on the crisis in the party said last night that it would be a turning point for the party for good or for bad even as he faulted President Jonathan for the crisis.

“Jonathan is a man that cannot be predicted and he has come out to say that he does not have a hand in it but people don’t believe him because if he had done what he was supposed to do before he left, the party would not have been in this situation.

“By the time Mu`azu left if Jonathan had appointed someone from the North-East instead of Secondus, the party would not have been in this situation.”

On expectations ahead of today’s meeting, he said: “If we are not able to resolve         tomorrow (today) that would be the final nail on the coffin of the PDP.”

I won’t resign, says Sheriff

Meanwhile, Sheriff speaking shortly after he formally took over as the chairman of the party, said he would not succumb to the widespread calls by some members of the party that he should resign his position, noting that doing so would not be in the interest of the party, especially members of the National Executive Committee who drafted him to reposition the party.

While apologizing to those who felt aggrieved by his emergence, Senator Sherrif however cautioned that their grievances cannot be solved on the pages of newspapers.

He acknowledged that the time ahead is testy but promised that he would deploy all resources at his disposal to ensure that all members of the party, especially founding fathers, are brought back to the fold to make the party great again.

“The time ahead is certainly not going to be easy. We are aware of the high expectations from Nigerians for us to give the party a new focus. Our party is a party that has an avalanche of qualified people who can proffer solution to our problems. We accepted to serve not because we are the best, but because we have been identified to be capable of doing the task ahead.

“I will carry everybody along. I have come to form a partnership with party men and women. The wrangling that is going on is normal but we will overcome. I will contact everybody that matters in the party because we have the same goal which is rebuilding the party to its enviable height” he said.

The PDP chairman said he would consult with the founding fathers of the party with a view to bringing them back to the fold.

Speaking on the persistent allegation that he is a sponsor of the Boko Haram sect, Senator Sherrif pointed out that those accusing him of being sponsor of Boko Haram are actually the real sponsors because he is a victim of Boko Haram atrocities.

He said he would sue the former spokesman of the Jonathan Campaign organization for calling him a Boko Haram sponsor on national television .

“I was never a sponsor of Boko Haram. Yes, I was governor when the issue of Boko Haram started and I was also part of the people that brought it to an end within five months. Former President Umaru Yar`Adua ordered that the security agencies should ensure that there was no resurgence of the Boko Haram sect. Nobody who is in a position of authority and knows the truth will ever accuse me of being a Boko Haram sponsor. Policemen who were involved in the killing of their leader were charged to court. People like Femi Fani-Kayode who accused me of being a Boko Haram sponsor will not go scot-free this time around.

Speaking on his plans for the party, Senator Sherrif who said he would unveil his plans after he has been fully briefed by the secretary and treasurer of the party however promised that as a founding member of the All Progressive Congress, he would do the same things they did to make the APC acceptable to Nigerians to make PDP regain power.

Asked whether he would leave at the expiration of the tenure of the outgoing NWC which is next month, Senator Sherrif said the decision was not his to take.

Earlier in his remarks, the erstwhile acting national Chairman of the party, Prince Uche Secondus flayed opposition to Sheriff’s emergence saying that the outcry arose from the panic of those in the APC.

“This is one chairman that is known all over the world. His name sends hope to some people while to some, it sends fears. There is earthquake in the camp of the APC that is why they have come with all sorts of appellations. This is a man who has been a governor for two terms, he was a senator, he was the chairman of the Board of Trustees of a political Party. He has achieved so much in a short time” he said.

Meanwhile, the meeting of the PDP BoT was ongoing at press time yesterday.