Ali Modu Sheriff

Jethro Ibileke/Benin‎

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The Chairman of the Caretaker Committee inaugurated by factional National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ali Modu Sheriff, to run the affairs of the party in Edo State, Ebenezer Alabi, has insisted that the faction will still go ahead with the planned primary election.

Alabi who spoke journalists in Benin on Monday, while explaining why the party was conducting fresh governorship primaries in the state, said that Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu who was declared winner of the first primary, emerged through a caretaker committee that is not backed by constitution of the PDP.

Alabi, a former chairman of the PDP in Ondo State, who disclosed that a fresh primary election would hold on Wednesday, assured that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will monitor the exercise.

He said the court rulings so far on the issue, gave Ali Modu Sheriff the powers to produce the authentic governorship candidate of the PDP in Edo State to avoid fielding a candidate who according to him, emerged “through an illegal Caretaker Committee led by Ahmed Makarfi.”

“The leadership of our party under Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, invoked section 31, sub section 2E of the constitution of PDP by suspending the state Executive members of the PDP in Edo State led by Chief Dan Orbih, for three months and appointed a seven man committee to superintend the affairs of the PDP in Edo State.

“We are holding our governorship primaries on Wednesday and the purpose of the primaries is to conform with the ruling of the court. You are aware that a lot of our members are in court as to who is the authentic leader of PDP in Nigeria because of the aborted convention we had in Port Harcourt. The court has made pronouncements. We are a democratic party and I believe we must follow the law.

“The court made orders that the position of the National chairman, National secretary and national Auditor are not vacant that they have powers to hold such offices until 2018. Apart from that there is a court ruling in Abuja that actually said the tenure of Modu Sheriff ends in 2017. But despite these rulings, some members of our party went to Port Harcourt and elected caretaker committee to run the affairs of the party.

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“Today we are faced with the problem of who is the authentic person that can sign a valid nomination to INEC, presently the court ceded that power to Ali Modu Sheriff. So if we want to have a valid candidate for the election in Edo State, we must do something proper to carry out the order of the court. And that is why we are here to comply with the order of the law and ensure that we have a proper candidate for our party in the forthcoming governorship election in Edo State,” Alabi said.

He was flanked by the secretary of the caretaker committee, Chief Edmund Zealiwe and others at the media briefing.

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The author, Jethro Ibileke, can be reached at [email protected]