Former PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, has revealed that President Bola Tinubu personally tried to convince him to join the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Metuh said Tinubu dispatched his Chief of Staff and then Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, to meet him as part of the outreach. Despite repeated efforts, Metuh maintained his refusal.

Speaking to journalists in Abuja, Metuh recounted:

“In the middle of my problem, he sent the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, to come and see me. He reached out to me; he comforted me. It took me a long time to get involved in politics. I’ve been called several times. The president wanted to work with me. Even in 2015, when we lost the election, I didn’t bother. When I left politics in 2022, he called me to come into his party. I refused. After he won the election, I went to see him. He called me to enter the party that he needed me. I refused because I stopped politics.”

Metuh’s political career has been marked by controversy. He was tried and jailed for alleged involvement in the diversion of funds intended to fight Boko Haram in 2015.

The case, widely known as Dasukigate, accused him of receiving N400 million from the Office of the National Security Adviser under Sambo Dasuki. Metuh was convicted after failing to prove that the funds were intended to support former President Goodluck Jonathan’s election campaigns.