We didn’t give pastors N6bn bribe -PDP

 

National leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party said it didn’t offer a bribe of N6bn to some Christian leaders for the purpose of helping President Goodluck Jonathan win the February 14 presidential election.

The PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Olisa Metuh, who spoke at a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, said the party was alarmed about the allegation which was made by the Director General of the 

 All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Organisation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi.

Amaechi, who is also the Governor of Rivers State, had accused the ruling party of giving the bribe to a group of clergymen.

Metuh said, “Pastors are revered people and to bring their character into disrepute is a sin before God. We do not think anybody, not to talk of somebody who is a Christian, can make such statement.

“We challenge the Director General of APC to name such pastors and where the money is coming from.

‎

”This attack is capable of bringing Christians and Muslims into a major disagreement and major dispute. If truly the person who issued this statement is a Catholic as he said, we are asking him to go for confession.”

Metuh also accused the Independent National Electoral Commission of conniving with the APC to deny non-indigenes ‎in Lagos State permanent voter cards.

According to him, the PVCs belonging to PDP supporters were being burnt in some states, and that the party had reported the matter to the electoral body.

Metuh said, “This has never happened before but we don’t know why the APC are doing such; maybe because we have credible presidential candidate.

“We have the records and we are asking the non-indigines involved that if by Friday, INEC still do not give them their PVCs, we will take decisive action.

“We know that 90 percent of these non-indigenes are supporters of PDP. This is part of the APC Janjaweed ideology to truncate democracy in this country.

“The APC have been saying they were on top of the election, but now that it is obvious that PDP is on top, that President Goodluck Jonathan will win the election, they have resorted to causing mayhem.”

Metuh also denied that some PDP governors were trying to defect to the APC, arguing that PDP governors had been participating in the party’s nationwide presidential campaigns.