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The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has shut down its Twitter and Facebook accounts, saying that they have been hacked. On sunday, the Twitter account, @PdpNigeria had tweeted that the PDP was taking responsibility for all that has gone “wrong and bad in Nigeria in the last 16 years”.
But speaking in Monday, the party’s publicity secretary Olisa Metuh said that the account was hacked and the statement made by the hackers.
He explained that the tweets on Sunday could not have come from the PDP with its robust record of achievements in all sectors of Nigeria’s national life within the period.
His words:“For purposes of clarity, this directive does not in any way affect the inalienable constitutionally guaranteed rights of our members as free citizens to hold and air opinions but such personal opinion must not in any way be rendered or reported as the official position of the PDP,” Mr. Metuh said.
“Consequently, media houses, particularly the electronic media and the civil society should note that only authorized persons should be invited to speak or stand in for the PDP for interviews, debates, talk shows or any other media appearance whatsoever.
“Furthermore, to halt the embarrassing trend in our social media handles, the party has decided to decommission our official Twitter and Facebook accounts for now, to pave way for proper overhauling of the system.”
According to Metuh, the decision is pursuant to determination of the party’s leadership to rebuild and reposition it, instil discipline, check unnecessary divergences and put the PDP on a strong footing to regain power in 2019.
“Additionally, in the new spirit of rebuilding and repositioning, the national leadership charges all members who have genuine grievances to channel such through the appropriate organs of the PDP for redress using the internal conflict resolution mechanisms that abound in our party,” Mr. Metuh said.
“Finally, we urge the media to always crosscheck with the relevant officials of our party on official matters before going to press.”