The national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has confessed that it has not been an easy task rebuilding the party since its fall from glory over seven months ago.
It also said that since the party’s historic defeat in the March 28 presidential election, it was encountering stiff opposition within the party on how to rebuild it.
The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Chief Olisa Metuh, stated this in an interview in Abuja at the weekend.
Metuh, however, expressed confidence that the forces working against the rebuilding of the party within its fold and outside would not succeed.
He said, “We have been rebuilding, but it is not easy. We are rebuilding, but there are different forces, and contending interests (working against it). It is not easy.
“On one hand, we are dealing with a ruthless ruling party, and we also have some divisive elements in our party who are genuinely accepting some influence in the administration of the party.
“Knowingly or unknowingly, they are embarking on distractions and distractions that would rather be in the interest of the ruling party than our growth”.
The PDP spokesman noted that since the party lost power at the centre for the first time since 1999, it had tried to remain focus and play the role of an opposition to the governing All Progressives Congress.
As the image maker for the main opposition party in the country, Metuh regretted that some members of his party wanted him to be abusing President Muhammadu Buhari with the hope that doing so would boost the image of the PDP.
He argued that the APC did not win the elections by merely abusing former President Goodluck Jonathan, but because of some actions of the members of the PDP then, which he said helped in boosting the fortune of the APC.
He said, “But since we lost the election, we have tried to remain focus and retain the support of a very large number of our members to remain focus in opposing this government.
“Some of our members misconstrue an opposition party to be a party that insults people because that was what the APC was doing.
“People want us to insult the President and the ruling party to remain in opposition. Because we are not doing that, our people are not comfortable with that.
“They believe that we are too soft and they believe that we are too academic. They want us to be insulting the people. It was not by insulting the former President that gave the APC victory.
“We fuelled partisan support for the APC in some part of the country”.
On the rumour that members of the outgoing National Working Committee of the party had shared offices ahead of the March 19 national convention, Metuh said the allegation was unfounded.
