by Azeez Adeniyi

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has appealed to its members not to defect following a judgment by the Court of Appeal that Ali Modu Sheriff remains chairman of the party.

The appeal was made by the Board of Trustees and the Senator Ahmed Makarfi-led faction of the party.

BoT chairman, Senator Walid Jubrin in an interview with Punch urged members not to defect to another political party while stating that the matter would be settled at the Supreme Court.

He said, “I want to appeal to the people, our members, not to go. They should not move to another party. They should please stay put in the PDP.

“Those who are crying today will laugh. Those who are sad will laugh. Those who are disillusioned would be happy again. This matter will be resolved by the party itself and we are ready to go to any length to make sure that we remain united.

“Out of the three judges, one supported the Makarfi group. We have confidence in the judiciary. I want to appeal to our members to remain calm. Our party is consulting with various organs of the party on the next line of action.

“This judgement is not a threat, but it will put us together. All former leaders of the party like former President Goodluck Jonathan, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, and others are with us.”

Embattled caretaker committee chairman, Makarfi said the judgment was a temporary setback.

He appealed to party members to remain calm, noting that “they should know we are in the opposition. We have to accept this temporary setback.”

“We will not allow opposition to be killed. We must strive to ensure that we survive for the sake of democracy and the country,” he added.