Chairman, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, has begun moves to consolidate his hold on power as he reaches out to key stakeholders to support his continuation in office after the party’s convention in May.

It was gathered that following the opposition to his emergence as national chairman of the party, Sheriff had been reaching out to outspoken opponents of his emergence with a view to wooing them.

A source close to Sheriff said: “The chairman has been doing a lot since he emerged as a chairman. We hardly sleep in the night as the chairman has made it his duty to reach all those opposed to him, especially those based in Abuja, to appeal to them that for the sake of the party, every member must come together to present a united front against the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.”

CEOAFRICA source gathered that apart from reaching out to aggrieved members of the party, the chairman is also working hard to ensure that only credible people emerged as state council officials.

Another source said: “As much as the chairman has promised that no body would be imposed on the people in the forthcoming congresses, he is interested in who emerges in the states, especially states in the North-East zone.

“Since some stakeholders in the party are weighing the option of a possible continuation of the chairman in office, he has to be interested in the people that he would work with,”

Some governors and and other stakeholders in the South-West, South-South and South-East chapters of the party have begun to canvass for Sheriff to continue in the office beyond the three months approved for him by the National Executive Council, NEC, of the party.

A national officer of the party from the South-South zone told Vanguard: “Since the party is firmly established in the South-South and the South-East, it is better to allow the chairmanship position go to the north to broaden the reach of the party nationwide. We need to take the party back to Nigerians.”