The All Progressives Congress (APC) has offered Olisa Metuh, national publicity secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), a free six-week crash course on his new role as the opposition spokesman.
Reacting to Metuh’s allegation that APC has been working to destabilise the PDP, Lai Mohammed, national publicity secretary, said that 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.
“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,” Mohammed said in a statement issued on Friday.
“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.
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“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?”
He 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,” he said.
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“Lies by themselves never travel far enough for the truth not to catch up with them, as the PDP must have now realized 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 APC has no time to waste on luring away members of the PDP. We have our hands full as we seek to clear the mess that the PDP has made of Nigeria and the state of hopelessness to which its 16-year rule has plunged the citizens. Because Nigerians wanted change, they voted for our party. How then can the party of change allow itself to become populated by the same folks whom Nigerians have rejected?”
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