by James Sambo

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has cautioned the Niger-Delta ex-militants who have threatened war and/or secession, if President Goodluck Jonathan loses the February 14 presidential election.

The party stated that the President belongs to the entire country, saying he is not the ‘President of Ijaw’ people, despite being from the region.

Reacting to the threatening comments, the National Publicity Secretary of the ruling party, Olisa Metuh, in an interview with journalists in Abuja on Friday, January 30, said: “We are not in agreement with their statements and we are cautioning them to mind what they say.”

“No individual owns 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.”

“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,” Metuh added.

Kolapo Olapoju