Metuh: Nobody was forced to support Jonathan

Olisa Metuh, national publicity secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), says the decision to field former president, Goodluck Jonathan, was not imposed on any member of the party.

Addressing journalists in Abuja on Wednesday, Metuh dismissed the view of Raymond Dokpesi, PDP’s national conference committee chairman, on Jonathan.

Dokpesi had said the party erred in fielding the immediate past president as its sole candidate in the 2015 election.

But Metuh said Dokpesi’s comment did not represent the position of the party because he is not a member of the PDP’s national executive committee.

He added that the decision to present Jonathan was approved by the PDP’s national working committee.

“How can you regret a decision taken when everyone was there, the NWC, NEC and the national caucus?” he asked.

“What are we talking about? Everybody was conscious of the decision; nobody was coerced into supporting the position.

“In addition, the constitution of the party allows a sitting president the chance to exercise his personal right to run for a second term if he so desires.”

However, Metuh said it was not time for buck-passing or blame-game but the time to collectively reposition the party.

“We are repositioning our party. What we should do is to join hands to reposition PDP based on Sen. Ike Ekweremadu’s report to reclaim the party’s lost glory,” he said.

“This is what is expected of us all at this time.”