National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olisa Metuh, Friday, assured that the leadership crisis currently troubling the party will be resolved by next week, as he further maintained that the party has since overcome the initial trauma that accompanied the electoral setback of the 2015 general elections, and is now poised to regain power at the centre in 2019.
Metuh, who only Thursday night, posted his bail to regain temporary freedom after 24 days in detention at the Kuje Prisons, Abuja, over charges of destroying evidence preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), said the recent variance of voices from its members is as a result of the party’s foundation of liberal democracy.
It would be recalled that the PDP has been engulfed in a leadership crisis as state governors of the party, Thursday, demanded the immediate resignation of Acting National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, a development which came on the heels of Wednesday’s action by a former political adviser to the immediate past President Goodluck Jonathan, Ahmed Gulak, who had stormed the party’s national secretariat, in Abuja, with his supporters and declared himself the new national chairman.
Chief Metuh, in a statement signed by his Special Assistant, Richard Ihediwa, noted the recent variance of voices from its members is ‘as a result of the party’s foundation of liberal democracy,’ which he described as ‘a mark of strength,’ adding that the party has adequate internal mechanisms to resolve all issues within its fold.
Metuh, according to the statement, said this in his opening remark at a meeting of the party’s Publicity Directorate with some visiting parliamentarians from the United Kingdom, led by Rt. Hon. Mark Field, a member of Parliament and Chairman of International Office of the Conservative Party, and Colin Bloom, Director of Outreach-BCP in Abuja, Friday.
The PDP chieftain told the visitors that the party faced serious challenges soon after it lost in the elections, culminating in the resignation of its National Chairman, a development that created some challenges within it, but assured that ‘every issue would be resolved by the party leadership by next week.’
In his remark, Rt. Hon. Mark Field advised the party to ensure that it does not trash its brand in the face of challenges, noting that while it is common for some party members to demand the removal of leaders after electoral defeat, ‘care must be taken not to jeopardize institutional memory in the party.’
“Never trash your brand no matter whatever the government of the day is saying about you”, he admonished the PDP.
The interaction was attended by PDP publicity staff, social media operatives of the party and officials of the International Republican Institute (IRI), who facilitated the visit.
