APC Slams Metuh’s Allegation That It Was Destabilising PDP

APC

The All Progressives Congress (APC) said yesterday that it would be wary of defectors from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) who are capable of polluting the party.

In a statement by the APC National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, he noted that the party it has so much to do to clear the mess the PDP has made of Nigeria in the past 16 years.

The party also dismissed allegation by the PDP National Publicity Secretary Olisa Metuh that the APC was behind the crumbling of the PDP, offering Metuh a free, six-week crash course on his new role as the opposition spokesman.

“During the training, Metuh will be given free lessons by his APC counterpart, in the spirit of cooperation and for the advancement of the nation’s democracy,” the APC said. It added that Metuh “will need the training to effectively carry out his new, tough task. It is now obvious that he needs to understand that for him to succeed in his new role, he must be credible, empirical, more sophisticated in language use and very passionate, in addition to being able to operate on a lean or zero budget.”

The party said it was ludicrous for anyone to suggest that the APC sought to destabilize the PDP when the ruling party caused its own fall.

“Really, it beggars belief to say that the APC is seeking to lure away members of the PDP’s NEC with ‘phantom promises and threats’, with a view to destabilising the party, when everyone knows the rate at which PDP stalwarts have been rushing to jump off the sinking ship called the PDP before it finally tips over.

“Our National Chairman and our President-elect have even spoken out publicly on this issue, encouraging the eager PDP defectors to stay back in their party so they can provide a formidable opposition to the new ruling party. How then can anyone accuse the APC of either luring away PDP members or seeking to destabilise a party that has done itself in?”

The APC therefore advised Metuh to “take a little time off so he can engage in some introspection, against the backdrop of the total repudiation by Nigerians of the brand of politics that his party, the PDP, played in its days as the ruling party.

“There is no doubt that Metuh is in a hurry to do his work as an opposition spokesman. He should not worry. He should save his energy, because he would need it, in addition to the crash course which has been offered to him freely, if he is to function effectively in his new role. Having been in opposition for so long, we can tell Metuh that it is not a cakewalk.

“Lies by themselves never travel far enough for the truth not to catch up with them, as the PDP must have now realised when its strategy of muckraking, distortion of facts and blatant falsehood – under the guise of electioneering campaign – failed to turn the tide in its favour during the last elections. But it seems the lead actors in that failed strategy, Metuh included, have not yet learnt their lessons, hence they have continued to engage in their despicable pastime,” the party said.