RuntimeError: the sip module implements API v11.0 to v11.2 but the module requires API v12.0

Question

So I am facing this error:

RuntimeError: the sip module implements API v11.0 to v11.2 but the module requires API v12.0

I believe this has been answered a few times on the web for different versions of sip and PyQt4, however, I could not find any set answer for two definite things:

• Everyone asks to remove all versions of sip and PyQt4 before a fresh installation. Can someone help with a set command to do that (remove all sip and PyQt4 versions iteratively)?

• I want to run PyQt4 import QtGui specifically. Can someone tell me the right PyQt4 and sip version to do that?

OS Details

Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description:    Ubuntu 16.04.1 LTS
Release:        16.04
Codename:       xenial

Python Version

2.7.12

Thanks for helping,

Adarsh