A former governor of Borno State, Ali Modu Sheriff, has been named the new chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party. The choice of Mr Sheriff who replaces Ahmadu Mu’azu who resigned after the party’s defeat at last year’s presidential election will come as a shock to many because he has several times been linked to the terrorist sect, Boko Haram. He denies the allegations. The PDP is Nigeria’s biggest opposition party, and was in power for 16 years before it was defeated in March 2015. The spokesperson for PDP, Olisa Metuh, who addressed journalists at the party’s Wadata Plaza National Secretariat, on Tuesday, said all organs of the party, including, the national caucus, PDP governors’ forum and the national assembly caucuses agreed on the choice of Mr. Sheriff, who is also a former senator. Mr. Metuh said the decision would be communicated to the Board of Trustees and subsequently, the National Executive Committee, NEC, for ratification before a formal announcement would be made.Â
