Under fire for allegedly being the unseen hands behind the travails of the emergent opposition mega party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), Nigeria’s ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) this afternoon distanced itself from the African Peoples Congress which registered the acronym APC ahead of the mega party.

PDP in a statement issued in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, by its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, also disowned Ugochinyere Imo Ikenga, the lawyer who reportedly registered the African Peoples Congress with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), saying he did not act on PDP’s behalf.
Said Metuh in the statement:

“Our attention has been drawn to unfounded, spurious and vexatious reports making the rounds in some online media claiming that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is behind the identity tug of war by groups claiming the acronym APC. The reports have suggested that agents of our Party are involved in the formation of the African Peoples Congress to frustrate the merger of opposition Parties under the canopy of the All Progressives Congress.

“We have on numerous occasions debunked these provocative insinuations. However, in view of the mischievous dimensions these rumors have assumed, especially within a section of the online media, the PDP wishes to categorically state as follows.

“1. To the best of our knowledge, no member of the PDP is involved in the formation of any other political organization, neither are we interested in the activities of any other Party. The alleged involvement of one Ugochinyere Imo Ikenga in the formation of the other APC has no bearing whatsoever on us. From our findings, Mr Ikenga’s recent activities, including his unsavoury attacks and illicit campaign for the dissolution of the Bamanga Tukur led National Working Committee makes him an estranged fellow and therefore can never be an agent of the PDP in anyway.

“2. Contrary to the allegations in the reports, the PDP email address has never been made available to any external body for the purpose of disseminating information. For emphasis, the PDP did not at anytime use it’s email address to circulate the so called APC’s press statement of 15th March 2013.

“3. On the mailing list mentioned in the reports where names of the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP and some staff of the Party feature, we wish to state categorically that the PDP circulates its statements to a wide network of email contacts and therefore has no control over who chooses to make use of them afterwards. The fact however is that the email in question did not originate from our domain.

“4. We wish to restate here that the PDP is not responsible for the ill fate already befallen the ill conceived merger of opposition groups. We strongly suspect that the current drama on ownership of name may have been contrived by the ACN to attract attention to themselves and earn undue sympathy. This plot has played out in the sudden emergence and withdrawal of a third group bearing the acronym APC. The question is, could the merger group be creating a scenario where they would compete within themselves and claim "victory" after overheating the polity with phantom parties? The capacity of our opposition for mischief has never been in doubt. We will not be surprised to find out at the end of the day that the merger parties are behind this needless crisis.

“5. We wish to reiterate the fact that the PDP welcomes a strong and virile opposition and does not feel threatened by the emergence of any group. We have no cause to frustrate any alliance as we have always defeated such coalitions in the recent past. The PDP remains focused on strengthening its bond with the Nigerian people and will not be distracted by self inflicted chaos among a rudderless group without an agenda of service to the Nigerian people.”

•Photo: Metuh.

Update news