When Olisa Metuh ‘sinned’, PDP suffers

While clinking of glasses is going on in the All Progressives Congress (APC) camp over the current travail of Olisa Metuh, the national publicity secretary of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), in the hands of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), there is apprehension in the PDP fold.

In what could pass off as a fulfillment of the biblical saying, “smite the shepherd and the sheep will scatter”, the PDP followers, who were still being provided with some measure of confidence by virtue of Metuh’s verbal salvos at APC, may have been scared into hiding by the man’s current travail.

From the first day the APC got registered as a party in 2013 up till the point Metuh was arrested, the broom party was given no rest as the brilliant politician never ceased to give the APC hell through caustic and scathing criticisms.

The seed of hatred was effectively sown in March 2014, when Metuh dismissed the then newly-unveiled manifesto of the APC as a product of “Janjaweed Ideology”.

Metuh had deplored the APC’s manifesto, saying that it “lacks character, depth and completely addressed no issue.” He had also said that the manifesto ranked security of lives and property low and gave no clue as to its preparedness to tackle terrorism, saying it was a tacit acknowledgment that the APC may be benefiting from the mayhem and knows more than meet the eyes about the spate of terror attacks in the country.

In a sharp reaction to the PDP spokesman’s allegation, Lai Mohammed, the then APC spokesperson, and now minister of information, accused the umbrella party of “religious blackmail”.

A brilliant gentleman he is, Metuh had employed every adjective in political lexicon to tell Nigerians that the APC government may not be a better alternative to the PDP, after all. While he fired from all cylinders, pre-election era, never did he imagine that his party’s presidential candidate, Goodluck Jonathan, would lose abysmally to the APC’s Buhari.

Like many of his ilk in the PDP, Metuh thought that his party had come to stay and would rule for eternity. But as it is in everything here on earth, power is ephemeral.

Today, the Pharaoh that knew not Joseph, as it is said, has come on board. The sins of yesterday, as it were, may have come into reckoning.

APC, dripping with the venom of what some observers described as “vindictiveness” over the verbal extravaganza displayed by Metuh in the hay days of the PDP, may have risen for a pound of flesh. This must have explained the exceptional but cruel treatment being meted out to Metuh in the same case that some people said to have received much more than he allegedly did, have not even been invited for questioning, let alone being incarcerated.

At least, some of the treatments meted out to him have been flayed by many. Apart from his bail conditions being stringent and akin to the proverbial camel passing through the needle eyepiece; the dramatisation of his appearance in the court last Tuesday, in chains, was a vendetta too harsh to ignore.

Critics have wondered if the treatments were totally thought out by the judges handling his case and why his case is so special that he must be so treated.

The handling of Metuh’s case, it is said, may have placed a moral burden on the conscience of the judiciary and raises questions on the independence of that arm of government.

Condemning the arraignment of Metuh in handcuffs even when the courts were yet to hear his case, the PDP said it was the Federal Government’s “brazen dis­play of authoritarianism.”

The party said the unfair treat­ment of Metuh was a further in­dication that the government’s anti-graft war was a deliberate po­litical witch-hunt carefully designed against the PDP and its officials, in order to humiliate, embarrass and portray the PDP leaders as common criminals and set the stage to cow and decimate the opposition and perceived foes of the government.

The PDP has also alleged that the Nigeria Prisons Service officials were instructed by the Presidency to handcuff the party’s spokesman to court.

Why many Nigerians cry out against the level of corruption in the system, perpetrated by politicians, they are not really sure the current administration is sincere in its avowed war against graft.

While the APC is on a cleansing mission, it has not as much focused on its members or the political refugees expanding the ranks of the broom party.

Whereas some leaders of the party believe that Metuh’s ordeal is a ploy to destroy the PDP, some others see the development as an avenue to become relevant in the party.

Recall that a few days ago, some leaders of the PDP demanded immediate resignation of Metuh and a few other top notch of the party, currently being investigated.

The national officers called on all relevant members and organs of the party to rescue it “from fortune hunters who have hijacked its very soul.”

According to them, “We hereby strongly dissociate the People’s Democratic Party from the ongoing trials of Bello Haliru Mohammed (acting chairman of Board of Trustees) and Chief Olisa Metuh (national publicity secretary) on various charges of anti graft agencies.

“They are said to have received funds using accounts of their private companies without the knowledge and instructions of any organ of the party. All those mentioned in the ongoing corruption trial are, therefore, on their own and the party was not involved financially or in any way with the office of the National Security Adviser or any 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.”

Metuh was born at Otolo, Nnewi, Nnewi North, Anambra State. He obtained a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Nigeria Nsukka, Enugu State, and was called to the Nigerian bar in 1988. He began his law career at Olisianunba Chambers, a law firm owned by his father. In 1990, he established a partnership firm called Metuh, Okafor & Associates, where he served as the managing solicitor. In 1991, he was appointed as the chairman of Legend Properties Limited, a property management firm. He later registered as an Investment Adviser with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In 1996, he established a Law Firm, Olisa Metuh and Co, to provide services in legal practice, real estate and share acquisitions.

He began his political career as the coordinator of the Igbo United Congress. While serving in that capacity, he was also a member of the finance committee of People’s National Forum (PNF). He served as a pioneer member of the national finance committee of the PDP. On November 1999, at the first National Convention of the PDP, he was elected as Ex-Officio member of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party. He later acted as the secretary of the National Peace and Reconciliatory Committee of the party for two years. In 2002, he was appointed as the Chairman of the Cros River State Electoral Panel. He was later appointed as member of the PDP constitution review panel. In 2006, he became the Chairman of Abia State Electoral Panel and also took part in the supervision of all the primaries in Abia. In 2007, he was appointed as national auditor and member of the party’s national working committee (NWC). He was later elected as the national vice chairman of the party for Southeast zone.

On January 5, 2016, Olisa Metuh was arrested by the EFCC, answering questions regarding some funds (Arms Deal) said to have been traced to his firm. Money meant for use to procure arms to fight terrorism was said to have been traced to his account. At the time of filing in this report, Metuh was still under the custody of the EFCC as Ibrahim Magu, acting chairman of the EFCC revealed that Metuh refused to accept the accusation, while others begun the process of refunding the money in their possession.