Mr Viral
PDP Elder, Chief OLABODE GEORGE Explains
PDP topshot, Chief Olabode Ibiyinka George is 80. On one hand, he is in a happy mood that he has been able to hit that landmark age.
On the other hand, he is unhappy about so many things, especially “the sorry state of PDP’s, his political party, which he loves so much.
He is saddened by the mega crisis which the party has found itself in. He is friends with the leaders of all the warring factions. And as an Elder, he has waded in several times to get all the key actors like Nyesom Wike, Gov. Seyi Makinde, Ayo Fayose, Damagun & Co. to sheath their sword and move the PDP forward. But they have all refused to listen.
Anybody who is close to Chief Bode George will readily tell you that he is in love with PDP. He says so all the time
He is a founding member of that Great party, as he likes to call it.
When City People met him last Thursday at his Ikoyi office in Lagos he said matter of factly that he is a PDP irrendentist. I can’t leave the party. I can’t decamp. I can’t go else where. I will either swim or sink with the PDP”.
“I can’t join the APC which is a party run by one person. I can’t join the Coalition which is not a serious group as far as I am concerned. Everything is about one man’s ambition to be President of Nigeria”.
Chief Bode George is also not happy with Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. “I lost a lot of respect for Atiku when he repeatedly refused to listen to the voice of reason” for him not to contest in 2023 And yet again now. He still wants to contest. That was why he left the PDP. He knows he won’t get the ticket. How can you, a Fulani from the North, want to replace late Gen. Buhari who is also a Fulani who had spent 8 years as President? How? How?
“That is unfair and it goes against the Constitution of our great party, the PDP.”
“That is not what our founding fathers in the PDP preached to us.”
“It is against the Zoning principles of the PDP”.
“Papa Alex Ekueme & other elders. will not be happy where they are today watching how all these members are just jumping about flouting the rules of PDP”.
“I am surprised that Peter Obi is still in that Coalition, thinking he will get the ticket. What is he doing there? He won’t get anything. Atiku wants to be President by all means”.
“We have told them to let the South complete its 2nd term of 4 years and by 2031 they can have it. I even told Atiku once that if he obeys our party constitution on Zoning, I will be ready to campaign for him to be President. But he has refused. He is one of those who messed up the PDP”.
“See what is going on right now and how the Judiciary is dictating to the PDP on what to do about our Convention in Ibadan.
See how our governors are jumpingship from PDP to APC.”
“With all these people jumping ship, running around, what is it on that side that is attracting them? At least there must be something attracting them. And you remember what Oshiomole said to the public”.
“If you have sinned, and you come to their party, he said your sins will be forgiven. What a statement?
So how does Chief Bode George see the Ibadan convention? “For real, we are going to have our convention.
What is the business of the Judiciary telling us a political party of our status? PDP is the biggest political party in this country. Like the oak tree in Lebanon. It just came from nowhere.
“With all these members. We are a formidable party. We have a procedure. Let us go and sort ourselves out. These people that are shouting against us are just 3, compared to 19 members of the National Working Committee.
Three are firing in the wrong direction. Three are against the remaining 16. So what are we doing? Those fighting sent police, some sent some thugs.
Police were firing tear gas at our party secretariat. And our party secretariat is still locked up as we speak. This is the number one political party in this country.”
“It is insulting. If it blows up, then we have lost that sense of remembering what happened in Nigeria in 1962”. But is it not possible for Chief Bode George to have maybe talked to some of those leaders? “We have been talking.
It just didn’t start yesterday. We have been talking. We have waited.
You know, you had Saraki. They made him Chairman of the Reconciliatory Committee. About two, three years ago, he has been foot-dragging.
And all of a sudden, he is now telling us that we should postpone the convention.
Section 7, subsection 3c of our party is very clear.
“There shall be zoning and rotation of these positions for purposes of equity, justice and fairness. That’s the way it is.
So I told somebody there, please give me your party constitution. It is there. Section 7, subsection 3c says, there shall be zoning and rotation of elective offices and party offices for purposes of justice, fairness and equity.
I have seen both sides of the divide. I’ve been in the military and I’ve been with the civilian.
“What they are doing is perpetually reminding me of the crisis in the Western region in 1962. We have to be careful. Nobody has any right from what the Supreme Court said in their judgment. We can call for that judgment and see that they flouted that section. I don’t know whether they were old enough to remember how it started. It was at the Western House of Assembly. The farmers came out, all kinds of things happened, then the Coker Commission of Enquiry. They said Awo sent some people to train civilians to come and take over the government. That’s a joke And then the Sentence. So what it means is that we have not learnt anything. I will keep on talking and reminding people that this is not the way this nation was born.”
So how does Chief Bode George see the Coalition. Which one? Is it the one we know that there’s no way out?.
I’ve told them severally that till 2031 the Presidency remains in the South. That was why they rushed to set up another party, otherwise if you remain without party there’s no chance In fact somebody said that Buhari doesn’t belong to our party. And I said look at this man. Yes it’s true he doesn’t belong to our party, but where is he from? Is he not a Nigerian? Where is he from? Is he from Yorubaland? Is he not from Nigeria? Is he from South South? That’s wrong. He did his full 8 years. We will do our own full eight years. And I told them, a lot of my friends, I said look in 2031 if I am still alive leave your campaign for me because then, you guys would get there. And I tell you there are a lot of brilliant brilliant young men who are governors now, well educated brilliant men you can can present them anywhere. They have the capacity the knowledge the temerity and humility to take over in 2031 so the battle.
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