Ali Modu Sheriff (born 1956) is a Nigerian politician. He is

Borno State Borno State is a state in the North-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered by Yobe to the west, Gombe to the southwest, and Adamawa to the south while its eastern border forms part of the national border with Cameroon, its northern borde ...

's first

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

to serve two consecutive terms (2003–2011). Though Sheriff had held two elected offices as a member of

All Nigeria People's Party The All Nigeria Peoples Party (abbr. ANPP) was a political party in Nigeria. Under the leadership of Late Chief Edwin Ume-Ezeoke who was its vice presidential candidate to General Muhammadu Buhari in the 2007 presidential elections. The party ...

, he would later join the

All Progressives Congress The All Progressives Congress (APC) is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Nigeria, along with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Founded on 6 February 2013 from a merger of Nigeria's three largest opposition parties, t ...

becoming a founding member of that party. In 2014, Sheriff switched affiliation to the People's Democratic Party. He acted as the National Working Committee chair from 16 February 2016 until the

National Convention The National Convention (french: link=no, Convention nationale) was the parliament of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for the rest of its existence during the French Revolution, following the two-year National ...

, when he was removed and replaced by

Ahmed Makarfi Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi (born 8 August 1956) is a Nigerian politician and the former Chairman of the People's Democratic Party. He was governor of Kaduna State in Nigeria from 29 May 1999 to 29 May 2007, and was elected Senator for Kaduna North ...

. On 26 April 2018 he defected back to All Progressives Congress

Background

Ali Modu Sheriff was born in

Ngala Ngala is a local government area of Borno State, Nigeria, adjacent to the border with Cameroon. Its headquarters are in the town of Gamboru Ngala. It has an area of 1,465 km and a population of 237,071 at the 2006 census. The postal cod ...

Town, Ngala Local Government Area, Borno State in 1956. His father was the business tycoon Galadima Modu Sheriff. He attended Government Secondary School,

Bama Bama or BAMA may refer to: Places * Bama, shortened form of Alabama, a state of the United States of America ** The University of Alabama, the public university serving the state, often known as simply ''Bama'' * Bama, one of the colloquial Burm ...

(1974–1979). He attended the

London School of Business The London School of Business and Finance (informally LSBF) is a private business school in the United Kingdom, owned by the for-profit education corporate group Global University Systems. It was founded in 2003 by the entrepreneur Aaron Etin ...

, where he studied Insurance, Banking and Finance. In 1981, he joined his father's construction company as a Director, later becoming Managing Director. In 1985, he registered his first company. His companies include Meroil Organisation and Union Chase. He was elected as a senator from Borno during the

Third Nigerian Republic The Third Republic was the planned republican government of Nigeria in 1993 which was to be governed by the Third Republican constitution. Founded (1993) The constitution of the Third Republic was drafted in 1989. General Ibrahim Badamasi ...

under the banner of NRC, his opponent then was Kolo Kingibe, wife of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

, SDP chairman, Babagana Kingibe. He was also a member of the Constitutional Conference and chaired the committee on states and local government.

Senate career

Ali Modu Sheriff was elected Senator representing Borno Central on the platform of the United Nigeria Congress Party (UNCP) during General

Sani Abacha Sani Abacha (20 September 1943 – 8 June 1998) was a Nigerian military officer and politician who ruled as the military head of state of Nigeria from 1993 until his death in 1998. He seized power on 17 November 1993 in the last successful c ...

's military regime. After democracy was restored, in April 1999 he was again elected Senator, Borno Central on the platform of the

All Nigeria Peoples Party The All Nigeria Peoples Party (abbr. ANPP) was a political party in Nigeria. Under the leadership of Late Chief Edwin Ume-Ezeoke who was its vice presidential candidate to General Muhammadu Buhari in the 2007 presidential elections. The party ...

(ANPP).

Governor of Borno State

In 2003, he ran for Governor of Borno State on the ANPP platform and won. He was re-elected in 2007 and sworn in on 29 May 2007. In both cases, he defeated the PDP candidate Kashim Ibrahim-Imam.

PDP National Working Committee

During 2014, Sheriff switch affiliation to the People's Democratic Party. On 16 February 2016, he became the chairman of PDP National Working Committee (acting), serving until his removal from office at the 2016 National Convention. He was replaced by

as Caretaker Chairman.

PDP Crisis

The Court of Appeal sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Friday 17 February 2017 declared former Borno State Governor, Ali Modu Sheriff as the authentic National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). In July 2017, following the verdict from a five-man

Apex Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

, Ali Modu Sheriff was removed as the PDP Chairman and

Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi (born 8 August 1956) is a Nigerian politician and the former Chairman of the People's Democratic Party. He was governor of Kaduna State in Nigeria from 29 May 1999 to 29 May 2007, and was elected Senator for Kaduna North in ...

reinstated as the National Chairman of PDP.

Controversy

He has been accused of being a sponsor to the Islamic sect

Boko Haram Boko Haram, officially known as ''Jamā'at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da'wah wa'l-Jihād'' ( ar, جماعة أهل السنة للدعوة والجهاد, lit=Group of the People of Sunnah for Dawah and Jihad), is an Islamic terrorist organization ba ...

by an Australian hostage negotiator Stephen Davies.

References

External links

Nigeria: Why President Jonathan Couldn't Avoid Modu Sheriff in Chad - Aide
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheriff, Ali Modu 1956 births Living people Governors of Borno State People from Borno State Nigerian Muslims Kanuri people All Nigeria Peoples Party politicians Members of the Senate (Nigeria) Social Democratic Party (Nigeria) politicians National Republican Convention politicians United Nigeria Congress Party politicians National Working Committee chairs 20th-century Nigerian politicians 21st-century Nigerian politicians