PDP Blames Jonathan’s Defeat on Hate Campaign…

Calls for forensic probe of its finances as president intervenes

The leadership crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) took another turn yesterday, with the National Working Committee (NWC) blaming the hate campaign orchestrated by the PDP presidential campaign organisation against General Muhammadu Buhari for President Goodluck Jonathan’s loss at the presidential election.

In order to exonerate itself of accusations by aides of the president of profligacy and mismanagement of campaign fund, the NWC also asked that its finances be investigated by any firm of chartered accountants, while rendering an account of its financial transactions during the presidential campaign.

It, however, said it was sheathing its sword as the president had intervened last Sunday night, where some of the president’s aides behind the crisis were called to order by their principal.

Addressing journalists, the National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Olisa Metuh, said the party’s headquarters was sidelined during the campaigns, and that “overzealous” persons were allowed to run a hate campaign against Buhari, thereby making the former military ruler more popular.

Metuh said: “In 2003, President Olusegun Obasanjo ran against Odumegwu Ojukwu, while late President Umaru 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 despite the intervention of Jonathan on the issue last Sunday night, the NWC felt that it was necessary for the party to call for a transparent forensic audit into the finances of the party since the commencement of the presidential campaign and the general election.

He decried the actions of the aides of the president who have been circulating payment vouchers of housing, furniture and medical allowances of the NWC to the media, stating that it confirmed that the aides of the president concerned have a “heinous agenda” against the NWC of the party.

Metuh maintained that the NWC did not receive any money directly for the 2015 general election.

Instead, he said it was from money generated from the sale of delegates’ forms, governorship and state and national assembly us’ forms that the party donated the sum of N500 million to the presidential campaign of the party and N100 million each to the 29 governorship candidates of the party.

He acknowledged that the members of the NWC received N30 million each, but said the money was for their medical, furniture and housing allowances for the past two-and-half years.

Prodded by reporters to disclose the names of the aides of the president behind their travail, Metuh refused, stating that the president intervened at a meeting held at the presidential villa on Sunday.

In his statement at the media briefing, Metuh said: “We had also alerted the Nigerian public through you that some members of our party, including ambitious aides and associates of President Jonathan, are using their perceived closeness to him to further their heinous agenda of injecting crisis in the party with a view to high jacking its structure for selfish interests.

“In the attempt to discredit the NWC, these elements pushed out a series of misleading information to the unsuspecting public alleging that the party leadership mismanaged the presidential campaign funds, leading to the poor performance at the polls and as such NWC should be made to resign.

“When this wicked and baseless allegation was debunked by the NWC which publicly clarified that it was not involved in the handling of the (presidential) 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 labelling 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 the 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 election.”

The PDP spokesman insisted that the national leadership of the PDP has remained very transparent in all its dealing since coming into office, adding: “No NWC member has been involved in any way 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 Board of Trustees (BoT) members to prosecute the campaigns in their various areas.

“The NWC is willing and ready to make its account public in line with the Freedom of Information Act.

“We hereby wish to alert the public and all our members that the main agenda of these elements is not only to hijack the national leadership but also to create the impression of a 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 defections in the event of a leadership crisis in a party at the 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.

“We thank the president for his role in calling all stakeholders to order in the general interest of the party. In the same vein, we thank our governors and elders of the party for their mediation and for joining forces with the NWC in the efforts to reengineer and rebuild our great party and reposition it to regain power in 2019.”

Metuh stated that: “As you are aware, part of our reengineering process is the setting up of the PDP Post-election Assessment Committee, which is to be inaugurated tomorrow to evaluate and assess our performance in the general election as well as make recommendations for the way forward.

“On this note, we wish to state clearly that there is no crisis in the national leadership of the PDP. The NWC 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 therefore urge all our members across the country to close ranks and work together with their leaders at all levels and make themselves partners in progress in the all important ongoing rebuilding process aimed at restoring the supremacy of the party and its glory as the preeminent party in Nigeria.

“What we need now is to eschew all personal and private agenda and join forces to reinvent our party for the task ahead.”