We won’t monitor Sheriff’s election as PDP chair —INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission has said that it will not monitor the election of Senator Ali Modu Sheriff as the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party during the party’s national convention.

The commission said this in a letter to Sheriff, who is standing for election at the party’s national convention slated for Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital on Saturday (tomorrow).

INEC  also said that it would not be present during the election of two other officers during the convention.

The two other offices are those of the national secretary and the national auditor of the PDP.

The National Working Committee of the PDP, which has Sheriff as the head, is made up of 12 members.

The letter by INEC implies that the commission will only monitor the election of nine other NWC members.

The officers are the deputy national chairman, the national publicity secretary, the deputy national secretary, the national treasurer, the national organising  secretary, the national woman leader, the national financial secretary, the national youth leader and the national legal adviser.

The letter, with reference number INEC/DEPM/PDP/024/T/18 and dated May 16, was signed by the Secretary of the commission, Mrs. Augusta Ogakwu.

Ogakwu’s letter was in reaction to a Federal High Court’s injunction restraining the commission from monitoring and or recognising the conduct of election by the PDP into the offices of the national chairman, national secretary and national auditor.

INEC’s letter read in part, “The commission has been served with an order of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos, restraining your party from conducting and the commission from monitoring and/ or recognising the conduct of elections by the PDP into the offices of the national chairman, national secretary and national auditor.

“Accordingly and in compliance with the court order, the commission has decided that the INEC monitoring team to your party’s national convention scheduled for Saturday, May 21, 2016 shall only monitor the elections into the unaffected offices and shall not monitor nor recognise any election to the offices of the national chairman, national secretary and national auditor.”

Ogakwu attached a copy of the court order, which asked it not to monitor the election, to the letter.

But the commission also said that it would not monitor the convention being organised by the Jerry Gana-led faction of the party.

The convention has been slated for May 21, in Abuja.

The Director of Publicity and Voter Education of the commission,  Mr.  Oluwole Osaze-Usi, said that the convention being organised by the Sheriff group would get the attention of the commission.

He said, “There is only one convention known to the law and our regulations for which we were given appropriate notice — the one in Port Harcourt.”

A source close to the Gana group, which has former ministers and governors of the PDP, said the INEC had been notified about its plan to hold the convention.

“We have informed the commission about the convention coming up in Abuja on Saturday, we are expecting INEC to reply to our request,” the source added.

The Abuja convention is being planned by a group known as the Concerned PDP Stakeholders comprising 12 groups made up of former governors, ex-ministers and led by Gana.

It was gathered that the letter from INEC had thrown the Sheriff-led faction into further crisis as the commission was mandated by the Electoral Act to monitor the election of officers of all political parties.

When our correspondent visited the national secretariat of the party on Wednesday, Sheriff was said to be having a meeting with three members of the NWC.

A member of the NWC said the party was in a dilemma and was no longer keen about the convention.

He said, “We are in trouble in the party. Everyone is against us. Our members are even worse in their anger against us. Where do we go from here?

“The courts are busy annulling our congresses while some of our members are also forming a parallel organisation and convention committee to further damage the image of the party.”

The order to restrain the party from conducting the elections followed a case brought before the court by Sheriff; the National Secretary, Prof. Olawale Oladipo; and the National Auditor, Alhaji Fatai Adeyanju, who were listed as 1st, 2nd and 3rd plaintiffs in the case.

In the case with suit number  FHC/L/CS/61 3/2016, dated May 6, 2016, both the INEC and the PDP were listed as the 1st and 2nd defendants.

The plaintiffs prayed for an order of interlocutory injunction restraining the 2nd defendant from conducting any election into the offices of the national chairman, national secretary and national auditor occupied  by the 1st, 2nd and 3rd plaintiffs, respectively pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit. The order was granted while the substantive case has been adjourned to May 24, 2016.

The national secretary said the party was aware of the court order.

Source