With barely 25 days to the inauguration of a new government, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) continues to rue its loss at the March 28 presidential election.
In a new statement released by its spokeperson, Mr. Olisa Metuh, the ruling party gave insight why President Goodluck Jonathan lost the recent presidential election to the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Muhammadu Buhari.
According Metuh, the fact that the PDP’s headquarters was side-lined during the campaigns, and that “overzealous” persons were allowed to run a hate campaign against Buhari, made the former military ruler more popular than his counterpart, Goodluck Jonathan. This resulted to the general’s victory at the polls.
Mr. Metuh said, “In 2003 President Obasanjo ran against Odumegwu Ojukwu, while late President Yar’adua also ran against him in 2007″.
“If the PDP had run its campaign based on hate speech against the Ikemba Nnewi, he would have won by a landslide in the whole of the South East,” he said.
Chief Olisa-Metuh, National Publicity Secretary PDP
Responding to reports that members of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) stole funds belonging to the party’s treasury shortly after President Jonathan
lost the presidential election, Mr. Metuh, who addressed a press conference at his office on Monday, said the NWC generated over N9 billion from the sales of nomination forms to aspirants and used the money to support candidates of the party, Premium Times reports.
It would be recalled that photo-evidences were released by close associates of President Goodluck Jonathan who are currently having a running battle with members of the NWC.
The documentary evidence that surfaced online earlier today showed that the PDP NWC members shared 250 million naira in unexplained fees to themselves on April 8, 2015.
The monies, which were paid out of the party’s Zenith Bank account number ending with 6016, revealed that the party’s national chairman, Adamu Muazu, was paid N100 million through Julius Berger PLC while the deputy chairman of the party, Uche Secondus, received N40 million.
The documents also revealed that the PDP’s national secretary, Adewale Oladipo, got N30 million.
Other members who got N30 million each include Buhari Bala, who is national treasurer of the party, Bolaji Akpan Anani, national financial secretary, Olisa Metuh, national publicity secretary, Adeyanju Fatai, the party’s national auditor, Abubakar Mustapha, national organizing secretary, Kema Chikwe, national women leader, Victor Yusuf Kwon, national Legal adviser, Hussaini Maibasira, and the deputy national secretary, Onwe Solomon.
However, Mr. Metuh said the NWC was never given any money for the campaigns and denied embezzling such money.
In his words, “We gave the presidential campaign N500 million and also supported our governorship candidates in the states with N100 million each, apart from those running for the state assemblies”.
He however admitted that NWC members received the said N30 Million, which he said included their housing, furniture and other allowances that have not been past for the past two years.
“We state clearly that we have not been given any money, rather this NWC generated billions of naira from the sale of forms from where we funded our candidates for governorship and state assembly elections in all the states of the federation in addition to funds released to key leaders including NWC and BoT members to prosecute the campaigns in their various areas,” he said.
Mr. Metuh said the NWC is willing and ready to make its account public in line with the Freedom of Information law.
He also said President Goodluck Jonathan was “directly involved” in the decision to disburse the N30 million funds to the NWC as well as BOT members.
He accused “fifth columnists” of trying to create crisis in the party with a view to afford elected officials an opportunity to defect from the party in line with a recent Supreme Court ruling.
He said the NWC members were running the party under difficult conditions for over a year with no help from any quarters.
“Where were these people when we lacked funds to run the party for over one year. We could not even buy newspapers or diesel for our generators,” he said.
On the crisis in the party, Metuh shed more light on the recent development. He noted that the crisis generated over the use of campaign funds is over following a meeting of all parties concerned Sunday.
He said the meeting, which President Jonathan chaired, succeeded in finding an amicable solution to the problem.
“We are happy to announce that the leader of our party, President Jonathan, the PDP governors and other key stakeholders of our party including governors and legislators-elect are deeply concerned about this development and have intervened to ensure the desired stability in our party,” he said.
Mr. Metuh said with the crisis over, the party is now poised to reclaim the presidency in 2019 and that there are no more talks of any resignation of NWC members.
“There is no crisis in the national leadership of the PDP. The National Working Committee under the Chairmanship of Ahmadu Adamu Mu’azu is duly elected and is fully in control of the administration of the party until the expiration of its tenure in March 2016 in line with the provisions of the constitution of our great party.
“We are not only in office, we are in power,” he said.
“We are not only in office, we are in power,” he said.
He finally urged all PDP members across the country to close ranks and work together with their leaders at all levels and make themselves partners in progress in the rebuilding the party.
“What we need now is to eschew all personal and private agenda and join forces to reinvent our party for the task ahead,” he said.
The PDP anti-party stance on Jonathan’s defeat to Buhari comes hours after Bayelsa State governor, Seriake Dickson revealed intentions to punish two close allies of Dame Patience Jonathan, Wife of President Goodluck Jonathan.
These two allies, Senator Emmanuel Paulker and Mr. Waripamowei Dudafa currently serving as domestic aide to President Goodluck Jonathan, are wanted for anti-party activities.
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