SAN FRANCISCO, April 13, (THEWILL) – The National Chairman of the People’s Democratic (PDP), Ali Modu Sheriff has accused former President Goodluck Jonathan of receiving N50 million from the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, to organise the recent stakeholders meeting in Abuja.
THEWILL recalls that the meeting in question ended in disarray as Sheriff walked out on Jonathan claiming he wasn’t recognised by Jonathan as the Leader of the party.
Sheriff, speaking through his Deputy, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh, at a news conference at the party’s secretariat on Thursday, said Governors Wike and Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti state recruited Jonathan into a fake peace effort pre-determined to scuttle ongoing peace initiative in the party.
“The result is that President Jonathan was lured into committing a serious breach of protocol that led to the failure of the exercise which was the intended outcome,” Sheriff said.
According to him, Wike and the media mogul, Chief Raymond Dokpesi of DAAR Communications, have already established their own political party, adding that their mission was to tie the PDP down with undue controversies revealing that the party was worried that the amount of money Wike was spending on the crisis could smear the image of the PDP
“This money belongs to the people of Rivers State and it should not be misappropriated at the expense of the people to whom it rightfully belonged.
“We therefore call on party leaders and Nigerians to refrain from accepting these monies from Governor Wike in line with the spirit of our founding fathers,” Sheriff added.
Sheriff restated his determination to go ahead with the plans to organise a convention for the party, saying preparations for a free and fair convention were in top gear and directed State Chapter Chairmen of the PDP to forward to the party secretariat the lists of all statutory delegates to the convention on or before April 27.
He added that the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party would hold on May 3.
Responding to the allegation, Jonathan who spoke through his media aide, Ikechukwu Eze, dismissed Sheriff’s allegation that he collected N50 million from Wike insisting that he took it upon himself to convene the meeting out of his genuine concern for peace to reign in the party the party that made him president.
“I don’t think anybody will believe that Jonathan collected money from anybody to organise the meeting. It was out of his genuine concern to bring peace to the party.
“He has been meeting with members of the party; he met with Sheriff severally, he also met with Makarfi severally. He met with the governors.
“I don’t see any reason for anybody to say that Jonathan collected money from anybody to organise the stakeholders conference,” Eze said.
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