Former Kaduna State Governor, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, was this evening named Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Caretaker Committee, while Senator Ben Obi emerged as Secretary. This followed the removal, also today, of the party’s Acting National Chairman, Senator Ali-Modu Sheriff.

The Caretaker Committee headed by Senator Makarfi, a former Governor of Kaduna State, has been mandated to elect a new National Working Committee for the party within three months.

Other members of the committee are;

Senator Ben Obi – Secretary

Senator Ugbesia – Member

Sen Abdul Ningi – Member

Prince Dayo Adeyeye – Member

Aisha Aliyu – Member

Barrister Usman – Member

After he was removed, Senator Sheriff said: “The PDP Convention stands cancelled owing to court injunctions” and called the exercise of Saturday a ‘charade and illegal’.

Crisis within the PDP is believed to have led to the removal of the National Chairman on a day the party had scheduled a National Convention.

At the convention ground in Port Harcourt, party leaders appeared divided over the National Convention.

Senator Sheriff had announced a postponement of the convention but the party’s Vice Chairman of the South-South, Mr Uche Secondus, declared that the convention must go ahead as planned.

Ali-Modu Sheriff former-PDP-chairman

Senator Sheriff told a news conference that the decision was based on a court order restraining the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from supervising the planned election in some of the party’s leadership positions.

The PDP Chairman, thereafter asked all the delegates at the venue of the planned convention to go home, as a new date would be communicated to them in due course.

The postponement was due to the outcome of the meeting earlier held on Saturday involving the party’s leadership and serving governors of the party, prior to the planned convention.

In the heat of the controversy, he was removed as chairman, with the caretaker committee set up.

The PDP had on February 16, 2016 appointed Senator Sheriff the party’s new national chairman.

The decision was reached in a meeting of the NEC held at the opposition party’s National Secretariat in Abuja.

The decision of the NEC followed the nomination of Senator Sheriff by the National Caucus, a body with membership drawn from the forum of PDP governors, members of the National Assembly, Board of Trustees and National Working Committee of the party.

But his leadership whipped up controversies, with some members of the party faulting the decision of to make him the chairman.

•Additional reports by Channels TV. Photo shows PDP Caretaker Committee Chairman, Senator Ahmed Makarfi.