The Supreme Court of Nigeria has put to rest the leadership tussle in the Peoples Democratic Party which is the country’s main opposition. The court this Wednesday sacked Senator Ali Modu Sheriff and reinstated the Caretaker Committee Chairman, Ahmed Makarfi as the authentic National Chairman of the Party.

The five-man panel of the apex court headed by the Chief Justice of the Federation , Walter Onnoghen, held that contrary to the position of the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, Makarfi’s suit at the lower court which was struck out, was not an abuse of court process.

Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivour while reading the lead judgment of the Supreme Court, also held that the May 15 Port Harcourt convention that elected Makarfi as the National Caretaker Committee Chairman and removed Sheriff and other national officers of the party acted rightly and not in breach of any aspect of the PDP Constitution.

The judgment of the court as read by Justice Rhodes-Vivour was unanimously agreed to by other members of the panel which included Justices Onnoghen, Kayode Ariwoola, Dattijo Muhammad and Tanko Mohammad.

While Ali Modu Sheriff was absent in court, Ahmed Makarfi was present with a large number of his loyalists including Governors Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State and Nyesom Wike of Rivers State; Dayo Adeyeye, the Publicity Secretary of the party, Ibrahim Shekarau, a former governor of Kano State and former Minister of Education, Bode George, the South-West National Vice Chairman of the party Chief Olisa Metuh, former Publicity Secretary of the party among others.