
According to a statement by Richard Ihediwa, Special Assistant to the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, the NEC’s decision was arrived at after very exhaustive consultations and 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.
The statement said further that following other nominations at the NEC meeting, Senator Sheriff emerged the new National Chairman with 60 out of 71 voting NEC members present voting in his favour.
The new National Chairman was sworn-in by the PDP lawyer, Barr. Emeka Etiaba (SAN) in a short ceremony at the party’s National Secretariat.
The appointment was in keeping with section 47 (6) of the PDP Constitution, which empowers the NEC to fill a vacant position with a person from the zone where the officer originated from.