Chairmanship: Modu Sheriff Out To Repeat PDP Crisis, Tear APC Apart, Says Gololo

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Garus Gololo, has warned the party against fielding the duo of former governors Ali Modu – Sheriff (Borno State) and Abdulaziz Yari (Zamfara State) in the forthcoming election for the National Chairmanship of the party.

Gololo in a statement on Sunday in Abuja said the warning became necessary following the antecedent of both men in the recent party.

The APC Chieftain said the party cannot afford the discordant antics of both men who in the past created fractions and tension in political parties where they belonged.

While cautioning stakeholders and the party’s leadership to be on their guard as the APC approaches the conduct of its National Convention, Gololo asserted that it was morally wrong for former Zamfara State governor, Abdulaziz Yari, to aspire to be the National Chairman of the party after “refusing to recognize the tenure of the former National Chairman, Adams Oshiomole.

Adding: “Some persons seem morally bankrupt. After working against the national leadership of our party, and thereby costing APC the governorship of Zamfara State, you have the temerity to want to vie for the Chairmanship of a party you worked against.

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“The CECPC should outrightly keep his like out of the negotiation. He’s no good news for APC if the party is to retain power in 2023.”

The statement also urged the party’s Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) to put the survival of the APC beyond the 2023 general election, its internal cohesion and peace among members as primary focus in accepting interests for the National Chairmanship position.

According to him, “while Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, has proven to be a man of means who has considerable wealth to throw around so as to get what he wants, his antecedent in the PDP as well as in the now defunct All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) has left no sensible person in doubt as to his ‘sail and sink with me’ style of administration.

“Remember that as the National Chairman of the PDP, Sheriff displayed a lack of tolerance for internal dispute resolution mechanisms and dragged the party through a tortious legal battle that eventually ruptured the unity of the party.

“But for the judgment of a three-member panel of the Supreme Court presided by former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen, Modu Sheriff’s antics would have spelt doom for the once vibrant PDP.

“The court in her judgment criticized Modu Sheriff for demonstrating an infantile desperation to lead the PDP by filing almost 10 different applications in various courts.”

“Does a leopard change its spots. Is he aiming to repeat in APC what he did in PDP? Gololo queried.

While calling on stakeholders not to allow detractors to return the party to the path of the turmoil of the recent past, the APC Chieftain asserted that “the likes of Sheriff must be kept away from hijacking the party’s leadership in any form, or at any level.”

He said the CECPC led by the interim Chairman and Yobe State Governor, Mai Mala Buni, must also learn from the mistakes of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which sacrificed its glory to filthy lucre by admitting into its ranks persons who later showed an uncanny proclivity to sink the ship they were captains to, in order to advance their interest.

The stakeholder however advised former governor of Nasarawa State, Senator Tanko Almakura, one of the aspirants for the Chairmanship position of the party, to work with other stakeholders towards “building a strong and reliable APC that would give Nigerians the much desired development.”

The statement added that although Al-Makura is “a better option than Sheriff, the party would be stronger, and more prosperous if piloted by a leader with wide reach across the country and a consolidated political capital.”

He therefore urged the former Nasarawa State governor to support one time Chief of Naval Staff, and former Adamawa State governor, Vice Admiral Murtala Nyako to firmly assert the party’s meteor in championing democracy not just in Nigeria, but in Africa as a whole.

Dr Gololo further disclosed that Nyako “has wider reach across the country seeing that he had served as the country’s former Chief of Naval Staff, a former governor, a United Kingdom trained officer, among others.

He stands a better chance to endure that the party returns to power in 2023 given his political capital, administrative and managerial skills; plus his understanding and expertise on military/security issues especially given the current insecurity plaguing the country.”
The statement revealed that before joining politics, Nyako, “a decorated former Chief of Naval staff held several positions including, Commanding Officer of a Patrol craft, a Landing craft and the first missile carrying ship of the Nigerian Navy, to list few.
In 2007 he was elected into office as the Executive Governor of Adamawa State.”