Sheriff: Why I Left APC

Wole Ayodele in Jalingo
The acting National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, has explained the rationale behind his leaving the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) for the PDP.

Fielding questions from journalists at the Jalingo airport yesterday after a visit to the Taraba State chapter of the party, Sheriff disclosed that he left APC due to developments that were not in tandem with his political beliefs and ideology.

The PDP chairman, who is in line to re-contest for the position at the forthcoming national convention of the party further noted that he was compelled to leave the APC because the party was being run in a way that negates his ideologies.

Sheriff, who arrived the state on Tuesday night, was driven to the airport in the same vehicle with Governor Darius Ishaku and in company of the Senate Deputy Minority Leader, Senator Emmanuel Bwacha, as well as Senator Sani Abubakar Danladi and Hon Victor Bala Kona who was re-elected the state party chairman at the state congress on Tuesday.

Speaking further, Sheriff noted that he contributed immensely to the growth of APC, stressing that his contributions to the success of the party cannot be over emphasise.

Expressing optimism that he would emerge as the PDP chairman at the party’s convention slated for Port Harcourt, the former two-term governor of Borno State stated that it is God that crowns leaders but his is to ensure he does everything humanly possible to emerge victorious.

According to him, “It is God that crowns leaders. My own is to do the right thing and sell myself to members of our party. With God on our side, I’m confident that our people will give me the mandate to lead them at this point in time.”

He, however, maintained that he was sure of getting the support of the state at the convention, saying his people the Kanuris and the Jukuns have common background and hailed from the same source and he’s therefore at home in Taraba.
Also speaking at the occasion, Senator Bwacha described PDP as a phenomenon in Taraba State as he maintained that the party would continue to rule the state for a very long time to come.

He however noted that it was good for the party to experience being an opposition party at the national level, saying the development would afford the party the opportunity to do better when it regains power at the centre.