Former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) national chairman, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, insisted yesterday that he would still submit the name of Matthew Iduoriyekwemwen to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the PDP governorship candidate for the September 10 election in Edo State.

Sheriff who spoke when he presented a Certificate of Return to Iduoriyekwemwen in Abuja yesterday‎ said he was relying on last week’s judgment by Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court in Abuja‎ to send the factional candidate’s name to INEC.

“It is clear from Abuja High Court that INEC is obliged to accept the candidate we are to present.

“You know, ideally, most of our officials have travelled for Sallah. We need to do this because, the first working day we are going to submit our candidate’s form to INEC.

“I have to stay behind to do some of the things so as to ensure that the forms are submitted after the Sallah break,” Sheriff stated.

Abang, on Thursday, affirmed Sheriff as the PDP National Chairman and walked out Makarfi’s lawyers, as he described caretaker committee as illegal.

Secretary of the committee that conducted Sheriff’s factional ‎Edo primary, Alhaji Ahmed Gulak, said a total of 677 delegates were accredited for the primary while 502 voted.

According to him, out of this number, Iduoriyekwemwen got 481 votes even as his challenger stepped down for him.

Iduoriyekwemwen‎ who has chosen former PDP Edo woman leader, Mrs. Herberta Okonofua-Ayo‎ as his running mate, denied that he was being sponsored by All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Edo State government.

He promised to embark on grassroots campaign and assured that PDP will come back stronger in Edo after the governorship election.

Sheriff had said on Monday that he remained the chairman of the PDP despite the judgment of a Port Harcourt Federal High Court which validated his removal as chairman during the PDP convention last May‎.
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Sheriff argued that the ruling of an Abuja High Court that validated his chairmanship of the party was paramount.

According to him, the Port Harcourt judgment did not override the injunction because the ‎two courts were of equal competence and jurisdiction.

“‎The court that gave judgment in Abuja last week and the Federal High Court in Lagos and Monday’s court in Port Harcourt are all courts of the same competence and jurisdiction. Therefore, the order that we have in Abuja is still subsisting.

“Unless and until Court of Appeal, which is a higher court makes a pronouncement contrary to what we have, I still remain the chairman,” Sheriff insisted.‎