REACTING to the judgment, the sacked Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Caretaker Committee chairman, Senator Makarfi, said the Friday ruling of the Court of Appeal which validated Senator Ali Modu Sheriff was a temporary setback, even as he appealed to party members to remain calm.
Addressing journalists in his residence in Kaduna, on Friday, the PDP chieftain restated that his party would overcome the setback either politically or legally.
He said further, “We have utmost respect for the judiciary. So we are not going to take the law into our hands. We might not agree with the judgment, but there is a process and procedure if you did not agree with something”.
To this end, he said, “As an individual, I cannot decide for the party until the party stakeholders meet and take a definite decision. The party will meet on Monday to take a decision on the Court of Appeal judgment. Every person concerned has been notified; the governors, members of the National Assembly, members of the Board of Trustees (BoT) and party officials”.
Makarfi also called on party members to be calm, saying, “they should know we are in the opposition. We have to accept this temporary setback”.
He maintained that since he took over the party, PDP had done a lot of things to remain afloat, pointing out, “We will not allow opposition to be killed. We must strive to ensure that we survive for the sake of democracy and the country”.
When asked if, on Monday, the Ali Modu sheriff faction would occupy the party secretariat, based on the judgment, he said he was not in a position to tell the world what Sheriff would do.
Nonetheless, he remarked that he would be surprised if the security forces would allow Sheriff access into the secretariat, adding, “When a court ruled in our favour sometimes ago, we were not allowed to occupy the secretariat. So, we are going to see what happens”.
