We Enjoyed Frank Conversation With Tinubu – Anyim, Metuh
Former President of the Nigerian Senate, Anyim Pius Anyim says his meeting with President Bola Tinubu at Aso Rock Presidential Villa in Abuja centred on goodwill and the best interest of Nigerians.
Opening up on the meeting in a chat with State House correspondents, Senator Anyim said his engagement and fran discussions with the President was Importantly about good governance and what the citizenry desire of their government at all levels.
Both Senator Anyim and former National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olisa Metuh, were seen at the Presidential Villa on Wednesday and spoke on their visits to the seat of power.
Addressing reporters after the meeting, Senator Anyim said; “It was a great honour to pay courtesy to the President and congratulate him, first and foremost, for his successful inauguration as the 16th President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and also to encourage and congratulate him for the bold he has taken so far.”
Senator Anyim, who served as Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) under ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, said; “We had a whole lot of heart-to-heart discussions, but primarily, it’s to congratulate him.”
Also commenting on the visit to Aso Rock Villa, Metuh said he lauded the President for starting on a good note in the area of policies declaration as well as the idea of promoting “participatory democracy”.
According to the PDP ex-spokesperson, though Nigeria has suffered terribly in the past eight years, there is hope in the horizon that the Tinubu administration has the capacity to achieve national cohesion going forward.
Metuh said, “We came to see the President, to commend him for his very good takeoff; the policies he has brought, his inclusiveness, and most of all to canvass for the idea of participatory governance, participatory democracy.
“We believe that for policies and programmes, there has to be options and alternatives for those programmes, but only when we are together can we achieve success.
“Our nation has bled for over eight years, but we believe that from now onwards, Mr President has shown the way that the country will come together and then we’ll be able to live happily.”
Interestingly, in the buildup to the 2015 general elections, both Anyim and Metuh held critical views about the All Progressives Congress (APC), then an opposition Party that eventually brought immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari into office and which produced Tinubu as President following the 2023 polls currently being contested at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT).
However, after falling out with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over what insiders hinted centred around his botched presidential ambition within the party, Senator Anyim reportedly took sides with the APC in Ebonyi to achieve electoral victory for the ruling party’s candidate, Francis Nwifuru in the March 18, 2023 governorship polls.
On his part, the former PDP Spokesperson, Metuh had in October 2022 announced his official resignation from the Party and partisan politics.
His decision was conveyed in a letter addressed to the party’s National Chairman, the Court suspended, Dr Iyorchia Ayu, and dated October 25th, 2022.
Metuh, who faced a long-drawn court trial for alleged corruption under the Buhari-led government, said his decision to bid the party farewell was taken after deep meditation during his medical trip abroad.
