The National publicity secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Olisa Metuh, in recent interview with Punch, describes its members that defected to the All Progressives Congress as gold-diggers.
PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh
Read excerpts from the interview below:
What are your thoughts on the conduct of the just-concluded elections?
Our thoughts are simple: we want to take stock; get evidence from all our people that contested the elections, including officials at all levels; and find out if, truly, what happened was the will of the people. In areas that what happened was the will of the people and the people rejected us, we will re-strategise and try to create new policies to help us reconnect with the people in those areas. In areas where we were manipulated out of the elections-where we lost due to certain irregularities-we will use democratic means to attempt a correction of such.
How does your party react to the mass defection of its members to the APC?
It speaks more of the character of those individuals that defected than the problem that we have. Those people saw us four years ago. They saw us two years ago. They were with us last month and yet, they did not defect. One week after we lost the presidential election, they finally discovered that it was time to defect from the PDP. They are gold-diggers; they are fortune seekers. They only participate when the food is ready. They can as well go to the APC.
The mere fact that the APC chairman and their presidential candidate have already rejected them is enough intimidation for them. They should stay over there. We don’t want them to come and pollute us again because what it means is that they were never committed or dedicated to our cause. Invariably, if you look at them, maybe they did not even vote for us or work for our candidate in those elections.
Would you say President Goodluck Jonathan’s refusal to challenge the result of the presidential election contributed to the mass defection of your members?
Definitely not. The President exercised his own right on whether he should do that or not. The party has not brought out its position. We have not said whether we will challenge it or not. The President simply made his position known; the party’s options, on the other hand, are still open. It is the party that will decide whether they will challenge it or not.
With the PDP soon to be in the opposition at all levels of government and with many of its members now in the APC, how does the party plan to coexist with the APC?
Our members are not the problem. We don’t have anything to do with people that have left us; they are no longer our members. Our problem will be how to fashion a credible, mature, decent and civil opposition.
We will also ensure that we give alternatives and options to their programmes and policies. We will not be a noise-making opposition. We will be focused on facts and cooperate with them in areas that are necessary for the progress of the nation, for national unity and peaceful coexistence. The development of our country is more important than party interests.
The PDP’s national publicity secretary recently stated that the party has vowed to provide credible opposition to the All Progressives Congress, without propaganda, insults and lies.
No comments:
Post a Comment