PDP national officers ask BOT chairman, Olisa Metuh to quit over $2.1bn arms scandal

A group of national deputy officers of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called on the acting chairman of the party's Board of Trustees (BoT), Dr. Haliru Bello Muhammed and the National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, who are facing various corruption charges in court to step aside from their offices until they clear their names. In a statement issued in Abuja, on Monday, the group claimed that both men accused of being beneficiaries of the $2.1 billion arms procurement fund allegedly diverted in the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), acted on their own and should take responsibility for their action without involving the party. Those who signed the statement included Dennis Alonge-Niyi, Deputy National Youth Leader; Bashir Maidugu, Deputy National Legal Adviser; Okey Nnaedozie, Deputy National Organising Secretary and Abdullahi Jalo, Deputy National Publicity Secretary. None of them is a member of the National Working Committee (NWC). The statement noted that the two national leaders were accused of using accounts of their private companies without the knowledge and instructions of any organ of the party. The statement added: "All those mentioned in the ongoing corruption trial are therefore on their own and the party was not involved financially or in anyway with the office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) or any other organ of the Federal Government in the last regime. "They must bear full responsibility for their actions and must henceforth refrain from dragging the name of the party into the mud." While it stressed the support of the PDP for the ongoing anti-corruption war, the statement appealed to the Federal Government to apply the principles of objectivity in order not to create the impression of a witchhunt. It declared: "As a consequence of the wide public interest which this trial has generated, we urge the national caucus, the Board of Trustees and the PDP Governors Forum to prevail on the two accused persons to honorably step aside until they clear their names thereby saving the party from any further damage. "This is not a pronouncement of guilt but a passionate appeal to halt erroneous concept that the party tolerates corruption. "The National Executive Committee is therefore urged to convene a meeting immediately in order to formalise the appointment of a new spokesperson in line with the party's constitution that is not weighed down by integrity issues. "The ideals of our party in accordance with the vision of the founding father is among others, respect to the rule of law. "We must not continue with flagrant impunity which has brought us to this situation in the first place."