The PDP crisis sparked by its loss boiled over yesterday with the National Working Committee (NWC) intensifying its fight back against calls for its resignation in which Chairman, Adamu Mu’azu and National Secretary, Prof. Wale Oladipo have rejected calls for their resignation.
In a news conference, National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh yesterday spoke in Abuja about the party’s loss.
“The decision of the Presidential Campaign Organisation to adopt and execute a hate campaign strategy against the then presidential candidate of the APC, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari led to the failure of PDP.”
“We are greatly pained that at the fact that a governor like Fayose will call on this NWC to resign. It is on record that because of the internal democracy that we provided, he was able to emerge governor today. He was called all sorts of names but the NWC opened up the process and he emerged winner. The party also gave him N250m for his campaign. We are pained and sad that somebody who enjoyed the transparency of this NWC will call for its resignation.
“Our advice and suggestions were ignored. We cannot be held responsible for the failure. While we are not holding any excuse for them, we cannot be held accountable for issues that were generated, that worked against our candidates in the North. All Nigerians know what happened.
“Let me say this. In 2003, President Obasanjo ran an election against Chief Odumegwu Ojukwu in the Southeast. In 2007, the late Alhaji Yar’Adua ran election against Ojukwu. I can tell you, if the PDP had engaged in name-calling or abuse of Ojukwu in anyway, the PDP would have lost the elections in Southeast.
“You will also recall that we had hinted you on several occasions that some fifth columnists working with other parties had been concocting some frivolous allegations and sponsoring amorphous groups against the NWC.
“We had also alerted the Nigerian public through you, that some members of our party, including ambitious aides and associates of President Goodluck Jonathan, are using their perceived closeness to him to further their heinous agenda of injecting crisis in the party with a view to hijacking the structure for their selfish interests.
“In the attempt to discredit the NWC, these elements pushed out series of misleading information to the unsuspecting public, alleging that the party leadership mismanaged the presidential campaign funds, leading to the poor performance in the polls and as such NWC should be made to resign.
“When this wicked and baseless allegation was debunked by the NWC after publicly clarifying that it was not involved in the handling of the campaign and its funding; and that such were exclusively managed by the Presidential Campaign Organisation appointed by the President, these divisive elements in their desperation came up with another allegation, claiming that the leadership embezzled funds belonging to the party.
“Even after the NWC also debunked this despicable allegation, showing that the party’s funds were judiciously appropriated for our state election campaigns, this group resorted to labeling the NWC with attempts to instigate President Jonathan, PDP governors and other well-meaning members of our party against the national leadership.
“This is in addition to recent sponsored publications accusing the NWC of corruption with claims that members shared monies generated from the sale of forms from aspirants for the general elections.
“For the avoidance of doubt, we wish to state categorically that this national leadership has remained very transparent in all its dealing since coming into office. No NWC member has been involved in any sleaze or embezzlement of party funds.
“Also, no member of the NWC has ever been accused of embezzlement of funds in any ministry, department or agencies of government at any level whatsoever.
“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. The NWC is willing and ready to make this account public in line with the freedom of information law.
“We hereby wish to alert the general public and all our members that the main agenda of these elements is not only to hijack the national leadership but also to create an impression of division and crisis and pave the way to lure some of our elected members to decamp to other parties, apparently in view of the recent ruling of the Supreme Court which allows defection in the event of leadership crisis at their party’s national level.
“However, 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.”
“On this note, we wish to state clearly that 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.” Metuh said.
Source: The Nation
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