Chief Olisa Metuh has charged the National Working Committee, NWC of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to hold with sanctity the principles of the Peoples Democratic Party, saying Nigeria’s continued stability rests on the party.
Receiving members of the NWC in his residence on Wednesday following his return from the United Kingdom where he went for medical treatment, the erstwhile National Publicity Secretary of the PDP said Nigerians were now more than ever looking up to the PDP to steer the country away from the anarchy and apathy that has engulfed governance in the country.
The PDP national leadership led by Chairman Uche Secondus during the visit watched a video of the spinal surgery performed on Metuh in the UK.
Metuh had fallen ill while under trial in the court of Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court, Abuja. Applications for him to travel abroad upon the recommendations of doctors were turned down by the judge who eventually sentenced him to jail for receiving money from the office of the National Security Advicer, NSA.
The sentence was, however, turned aside on appeal following assertions of bias by the superior court made against Justice Abang. Upon the development, Metuh was set free and given bail pending a fresh trial under another judge.
Following his return from the medical treatment Metuh received the PDP NWC in his Abuja residence.
Receiving them, he said: “Despite my travails and challenges, my confidence in the ideals, values and principles of the PDP, as enshrined by our founding fathers, remain unshaken and it is clear that the party can rescue our nation from her current dire straits.
“This is because the PDP has the desired values and principles of all-inclusiveness, respect for the rights and sensibilities of Nigerians across board, respect for democratic tenets of rule of law, equity and justice, promotion of excellence as well as equal access to resources and opportunities irrespective of creed, ethnicity, class and even political learning.
“Our nation has passed through a lot and the citizens are losing hope in the polity. In the southeast and southwest, many of the citizens are questioning their fate and faith in Nigeria and this is also the situation in other parts of the country. It is important that these issues are addressed.
“At this point, the PDP remains the viable option to restore hope in the polity, revamp the faith Nigerians have in our nation and save her from collapse” Metuh said.
While commending the PDP NWC for stabilizing the party he urged them to sustain the principles as envisioned by the founding fathers of the PDP telling them to “showcase the underlining differences between our party and others.”
He said that his challenges had proved that “no man is God and that no man can play God in anybody’s life”.
Secondus on behalf of the NWC thanked God for seeing Metuh through his travails and commended him for his courage.
The National Secretary, Senator Umar Tsauri lauded Metuh’s role as spokesman of the party in the period the party lost power saying that his articulation set the template for the revival of the party.
Before he became party spokesman, Metuh had served in various positions including as National Ex-Officio, National Youth Leader, National Vice-Chairman putting him among ranking individuals with access to the institutional memory of the PDP.
