"They all begged me to be PDP chairman against my wish"

The crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) took a dramatic turn on Monday, June 13, 2016, when its immediate past national chairman, Ali Modu Sheriff arrived the national secretariat to take over the affairs of the party.

Men of the Nigeria Police Force however barricaded his motorcade and a horde of his supporters from entering the secretariat.

Sheriff gained entry into the Wadata Plaza complex at about 1:20pm minutes after policemen stationed in and around the building were withdrawn on the orders of the Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase.

Addressing journalists few minutes later, Sheriff noted that members of the party begged him to be the chairman he remains the authentic chairman of the PDP unless the court says otherwise.

"We put off the Port Harcourt convention on hold because the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos said the office of the National Chairman of PDP was not vacant until 2019, also an Abuja High Court gave a ruling that the office of the National Chairman and seventeen others will not be vacant till 2018.”

"Again, no convention will take place without the chairman of the party presiding over the convention. That is the constitution of the PDP. The chairman of the party is the chairman of the convention.

"A person that we appointed said no, he must go and do some arrangements. But there is nothing like a caretaker committee in the constitution of the PDP. And even if there is anything like that, it is the delegates that will vote for such arrangements but no delegate voted for anybody.

"While I was waiting for the court order, Uche Secondus who was even barred by the court went ahead to say that he was standing in for the chairman but I did not give him any authority anywhere.

READ: Ali Modu Sheriff: "We are waiting to receive him in the APC" - Umar Duhu

"I remain the authentic chairman of the PDP unless the laws of the land or if the court make a pronouncement that Ali Modu Sheriff is not the chairman, I will obey as I have always obeyed. But as of today till the year 2018, Ali Modu Sheriff is the national chairman of the PDP.

"When the police stopped me, I went to the IGP with my principal officers and I told him, that your men are here to protect us not to take the laws into their hands but he said he was protecting the secretariat for us so that nobody will come in.

"The IGP directed them and they opened my office today. From today, I will start coming to my office and exercising my power as the party chairman.

"Ali Modu Sheriff never wanted to be the chairman but they begged me to be chairman, all of them" he stressed.

Sheriff noted that his leadership was opened to dialogue with all aggrieved factions and will do all it can to carry everybody along.