Federal Government reopens Maiduguri airport for Ali Modu Sheriff.

The Federal Government yesterday reopened the Maiduguri International Airport which was closed on June 27, for former governor Ali Modu Sheriff of Borno State to land in Maiduguri in his personal aircraft. Sheriff said he was dumping the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) but that he would make a formal declaration after the month of Ramadan and has nothing to do with the APC. 

The airport was abruptly closed when 276 pilgrims had been screened by relevant agencies at the departure terminal and were awaiting a Max Air chartered aircraft to convey them to Saudi Arabia for the lesser hajj. As a result of the closure, the pilgrims had to travel to Kano by road, even as on the same day, a chartered flight that brought wife of the Borno State governor, Hajiya Nana Shettima, was forced to take off to Abuja empty even though Senator Ali Ndume was waiting to board it.

 Top military authorities announced that the airport was closed for security reasons. It was however reopened yesterday and Sheriff’s private jet with registration number 5NBMH landed at about 1:32 PM. He was accompanied by three members of the House of Representatives, Abdurrahman Terab, Isa Kangar and Peter Biye. Kangar had in an interview published last week in some newspapers said Sheriff had made up his mind to defect to the PDP. 

 Others in the entourage included  two time gubernatorial candidate of the PDP, Alhaji Kashim Imam and the former state chairman of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) Alhaji Mohammed Imam. Dozens of soldiers led by the Garrison commander of the 7 Division of the Nigerian Army in Maiduguri, Colonel D.R. Hassan, gave cover to the former governor, whose motorcade drove through the Airport road, Bulumkutu, Damboa road and arrived at his private residence along Barracks road. 

Dailytrust correspondents report that the plane that brought the former governor took off from the airport at 2:22pm and credible sources said it would return today (Tuesday) to take Sheriff back to Abuja after which the airport would be closed until September 29. Hundreds of PDP officials and supporters as well as members of the APC that are in his camp in Borno State converged at the airport to receive him. 

A campaign office belonging to Sheriff was also painted in white while it is expected to wear PDP colours in coming days. Sheriff, who spoke to journalists in his house, described the APC as a dead party which had lost direction. He is the third former governor to decamp from the party after the merger of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and the ANPP.  

“My visit to Maiduguri is a private one but as you can see, it has been  hijacked by my  teaming supporters who mobilised the crowd that welcomed me. The real game will be after Ramadan because even though there is nothing to hide. We are still consulting with the national officers of the PDP on how to go about it, because the pull-out is going to be big, and we hope to organise it after fasting. Presently, as you can see, majority of our people are fasting and praying for peace to return to our dear state. But after the Ramadan we will come back and pull our people out of the APC”. 

Sheriff, a founding member of the APC, started having trouble after the national convention of the party in Abuja which allegedly sidelined him. On his rumoured cold war with Shettima, he said, “I have no grudge against  the governor,  rather  I am coming to only pull out my supporters from the party that would not help them in any way”. 

 Meanwhile, Governor Shettima left Maiduguri by road yesterday to attend to his younger brother who had multiple fractures after an accident. Shettima was confined to Maiduguri since the closure of the airport as well as withdrawal of soldiers from both the Government House and his convoy. Isa Umar Gusau, the Special Adviser to Shettima on communications confirmed the development.

Culled from Dailytrust.