PDP Crisis: Supreme Court Dismisses Sheriff's Application Against Makarfi

The Supreme Court on Monday dis-missed the ap­plication of Ali Modu Sheriff to stop the suit filed by the Ahmed Makarfi-led faction of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP).
Makarfi is challenging the Sheriff-led leader­ship of the PDP.
The apex court, how­ever, reserved judgement in the substantive suit.

The apex court five-man panel head-ed by the Chief Justice of Ni­geria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, dismissed the application filed by Sheriff, against Makarfi wherein he urged the Supreme Court not to hear the ap-peal earlier filed by Senator Makarfi on March 16, 2017 chal­lenging the February 27 ruling of the Court of Appeal in Port Harcourt, Rivers State which pro­nounced him, Sheriff, as the authentic National Chairman of the party.
After Sheriff lost his bid to stop the substan­tive appeal from being heard, his lead coun­sel, Chief Akin Olujimi (SAN) told the apex court in an ap-peal marked: SC/133/2017 brought before it by the sacked National Care­taker Committee of the party led by Ahmed Makarfi that having been declared illegal by the February 17, 2017 verdict of the Court of Appeal, Port Harcourt, Makarfi and his camp lacked the powers to take decisions for the party, including initiating court proceedings in its name.
The PDP leadership is contending that the Makarfi Committee did not obtain the necessary authorisation of the PDP to appeal in its name and on its behalf because the PDP under the current leadership was comfort­able with the Appeal Court decision and did not intent to challenge it.
Sheriff further con­tented, in an ad-dress written by by Lateef Fag­bemi (SAN), that since the Court of Appeal, in its February 17 judg­ment, declared that Sher­iff-led NEC as the au­thentic leadership organ of the PDP, the Makarfi-led Committee could no longer pursue an appeal in the name of the party.
However, in a counter argument, the Makarfi Committee, led by Wole Olanipekun (SAN), had urged the apex court to discountenance the Sheriff NEC’s arguments and pro-ceed to hear its appeal, in which it among others, urged the Supreme Court to set aside the Appeal Court judgment of February 17.
After listening to ar­guments of coun-sel to parties in the suit, Jus­tice On-noghen reserved judgment in the matter till a date to be commu­nicated to the parties.