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Former Deputy National Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Bode George, has expressed his concerns over the internal crisis the party is facing and called on party leaders to put aside personal ambitions and work together to resolve the ongoing internal crisis threatening the party’s cohesion.
In an interview with ARISE NEWS on Wednesday, George emphasised the urgent need for unity within the PDP and called on elder statesmen to step up, stressing that the party’s future hinges on restoring fairness and cohesion among its members.
“In any political forum, people will move in all kinds of directions, but the ability of the party… there must always be an elder in the room to call everybody to order, and that was what Bala and his group had done,” George said.
He noted the role of party elders in maintaining order and unity, questioning why such figures had not intervened earlier in the PDP’s disputes.
“I kept watching and listening, and was thinking, are there no more elders? If the board of trustees, the uppermost chamber for correction or maintaining peace in the party, cannot do it, then who else is going to do it?”
However, George expressed relief that steps were now being taken to address the issues. “I’m happy that both the board of trustees and the governors’ forum have now come together. They want to listen, and it is about time.”
Reflecting on the party’s past and its ability to govern, George stated, “Nigerians are looking for other ways out. They have tested our party. They saw that these people can be reliable and dependable, and they can manage better than the other party that is a congregation of strange men fellows.”
He attributed much of the party’s current crisis to the last presidential convention, where critical decisions were mishandled.
“The last convention, the presidential convention, was when everything started, and instead of arresting it, they were exacerbating it.
“With all that, you cannot have the chairman of the party and the presidential candidate from one side of the divide—they didn’t listen.”
George emphasised the importance of returning to the party’s founding principles. “We have gotten to a point where we are revisiting the concept established by those founding fathers, selflessly, convincingly, like Papa Alex Ekwueme, no matter who you are as an individual, this party is not a private enterprise. Nobody can be bigger than the NEC.”
He criticised the failure of the party’s leadership to consult the National Executive Committee (NEC), saying, “We haven’t called NEC for a very long time. That is when decisions would have been taken. The working committee also took the powers to themselves.”
Urging party unity, George called on the various factions within the PDP to put the party’s interests first. “I want to appeal to the leaders of the various groups, it is time. If you really love this party, it is time to shed your ambition, and whatever plans you have personal, let us rebuild the party, let the Iroko tree get back.”
Addressing the factionalism within the party, George noted that “when you meet politicians, there are politicians and there are ‘politrickians’. Wike is like a son to me, but when I saw the division, as an elder of the party, we saw the shenanigans, the manipulations.”
George recounted how he confronted then-party chairman Iyorchia Ayu over his promise to step down if the presidency went to the North.
“Ayu made a public statement that peradventure the presidency comes from the North, he would resign. But when the results were announced, he said, ‘I have four years; I’m not going anywhere.’”
This breach of trust, George said, fuelled the party’s crisis. “Of course, people would react to that. It’s against the party constitution to have the chairman of the party and the presidential candidate from the same zone—it is an anomaly.”
He also shared his dismay at the party’s failure to unite before the general election. “Two days before the general election, we had a meeting in Abuja, and it was only Oyo governor and Wike that came.
“They told us the stories of what they were going to do, and Wike said, out of the two candidates from the South, ‘I think we can go with Tinubu.’ I said, at this meeting? I looked around and said there is nobody that knows Tinubu better than me, and I can’t do that.”
George then recalled that during the campaign period, he had stated his intention to leave the party if Bola Tinubu won the election.
“If by whatever measure Bola Tinubu wins this election, I was going to get out.” After the election, Tinubu sent his Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, to appeal to George. “He came to say, ‘My boss said I should tell you, please be calm,’ trying to beg. They knew they had wronged me.”
However, despite the tensions, George insisted that he would remain in the PDP. “I will never leave my party.”
Touching on the ongoing conflict between Governor Wike and Governor Fubara, George said efforts were being made to mediate. “We had called the chairman of the board of trustees, saying this is so important, you must be involved in this. Let us arrange to meet Fubara and Wike—what is the problem between the two of them? Let’s save the party.”
Chief Bode George concluded by stressing the importance of dialogue in resolving the PDP’s internal crises. “The elders are going to meet with the governors’ forum, and I’m sure they would debate, discuss, and look at the issues from the right and from the left and come up with a solution.
“It’s not a matter of trying to send anybody to jail, but for you not to be able to come together and talk, that would be a lasting breakdown of the party.”
Boluwatife Enome
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