Former President Goodluck Jonathan , on Tuesday , said he did not endorse Senator Ali Modu Sheriff as the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party .
He said he merely opened his doors to Sheriff and other members of his entourage when they visited him at his residence in Abuja on Monday .
The former governor of Borno State was at Jonathan ’ s residence to discuss the outcome of the Court of Appeal judgment , which on Friday, affirmed him as the national chairman of the party .
The judgment nullified the PDP national convention in Port Harcourt, Rivers State , where members of the National Caretaker Committee of the party , led by Senator Ahmed Makarfi , were appointed.
The Makarfi faction , however , said in Abuja , on Monday , that it had appealed the judgment, adding that it also filed an application for a stay of execution .
No date has been fixed for the hearing of both the appeal and the application .
The media aide to the former President , Mr Ikechukwu Eze , said in a statement in Abuja , on Tuesday , that Jonathan did not endorse the Borno State ex - governor .
He added that the issue of endorsement never came up in the course of the visit , “ not at the closed - door meeting with Sheriff nor during the former President ’ s interview with newsmen . ”
The statement also noted that Jonathan , as a former President and foremost leader of the party , welcomed Sheriff and some of his supporters to his house in line with a mediation role he was playing towards unifying and strengthening the PDP.
He added that Jonathan opened his doors to Sheriff upon his request , just as he had earlier done to the Makarfi - led caretaker committee members , stating that the ex - President was equally prepared to facilitate more talks until the issues in the leadership of the PDP were finally resolved .
Jonathan was said to have also hosted Makarfi and the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the party , Senator Walid Jibrin, on Monday evening.
Details of their discussion were, however , not known , but it was gathered that the former President was briefed on the decisions reached at the party ’ s stakeholders’ meeting held earlier in the day .
Eze , who confirmed the meeting , said , “ Indeed , it may interest you to know that after meeting with Sheriff , the former President also met with Makarfi and the party ’ s Board of Trustees chairman , Jubril , later in the evening . ”
He said as a peace - loving leader of the party , “the former President ’ s interest is to help reposition the PDP to enable it to play a constructive role in the affairs of the nation, in view of the imperative of deepening the nation’ s democracy . ”
Meanwhile , former ministers, who served in the immediate past administration , also visited Jonathan on Tuesday .
Unlike Monday , when Jonathan met with his guest at his residence, the former ministers , however , met Jonathan in his office .
Among former ministers , who were on the visit , were Abba Morro, Chief Femi Fani - Kayode , Nenadi Usman , Sunday Odey, Tanimu Turaki ( SAN ) and Ibrahim Shekarau.
Apparently afraid that he could be accused of taking sides in the crisis , the ex - President refused to speak with journalists after the meeting .
Tanimu, a former Minister of Special Duties under the regime of Jonathan , told journalists that the former ministers were consulting in order to find a lasting solution to the crisis .
He said the group had met with the governors , members of the National Assembly and the BoT on how to resolve the logjam in the party .
He argued that Makarfi remained the leader of the party and that his group would continue to defer to him until the Supreme Court decides on the appeal before it.
