“Pres. Jonathan should not be reduced to the president of Ijaw alone”: PDP cautions Tompolo, Asari

Peoples Democratic Party has warned some ex-militants who have been threatening violence if President Goodluck Jonathan loses the February 14 presidential election to desist from such act.

The party warned them to realise that the President remains the President of all Nigerians irrespective of their tribe, region and religious believe.

National Publicity Secretary of the party, Chief Olisa Metuh, stated this in an interview with selected group of journalists in Abuja on Friday.

Metuh was reacting to the statements credited to some ex-militants that there would be war, or that the country would break, if Jonathan loses the election.

Among those who have made such threats were former leaders of Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta, Mr. Government Ekpemupolo (Tompolo) and the Leader of the Niger Delta Peoples’ Volunteer Force, Mr. Dokubo Asari.

But Metuh said such comments by the party’s supporters must be stopped, warning that the President, who is an Ijaw man like these ex-militants, must not be labelled as the President of Ijaw.

The spokesperson for the ruling party was asked why the party had remained silent over the statements which had attracted condemnation from opposition political parties and eminent Nigerians.

Such eminent Nigerians included a former Minister of Defence, Lt.-Gen. Theophilus Danjuma(retd.), who asked the security agencies to arrest the ex-militants without delay.

Speaking on the position of the party, Metuh said, “We are not in agreement with their statements and we are cautioning them to mind what they say.

“No individual own the party. The President could be more loved in Anambra than Ijaw area, he could have support in Adamawa than in Bayelsa. He even said in Adamawa State that he had more votes from there in 2011 than his home state of Bayelsa.

“Jonathan is not the President of Ijaw or South-South. He should not be reduced to just the President of Ijaw alone. He is the president of the whole country.”

He also called on those campaigning for the party and the President to be decent in their languages, saying that those who founded the party were men of honour.

Metuh said, “While we have noted the zeal of individuals of people supporting the president with advertorials and rallies, they should be guided with the ideals of the people who founded the party.

“We respect the sanctity and privacy of individuals. We won’t trade words with issues that are private.

“Support groups and individuals must be guided with this. We want issue-based campaigns. Those showing support for us should be guided by issues and not insults. That’s what we want the campaigns to be.”

On the pelting of the President with stones and sachet of pure water in some northern states, Metuh said that that should not be used as a sign of rejection of the PDP presidential candidate.

Credit : The Punch