Former PDP deputy national chairman, Olabode George has dissuaded his party members from giving former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar the party’s presidential ticket for the 2027 presidential poll.
‘Bode Geroge called on all Stakeholders of the People’s Democratic Party on the 5th of March to caution them about it. He mentioned that if this happens, the party will lose in the forthcoming poll. He asserted that the former VP and his clique have shown disregard for Southern Nigeria following how they treated the Southern PDP election preparation.
According to him, it infuriated the G-6 PDP governors who were led by Nyesom Wike, causing them to work against the interest of the party during the last presidential poll. ‘Bode George also said, “Atiku does not have the interest of the South at heart and he may possibly not going to be the president of all, if under his supervision the South West was given nothing and he was even courageous enough to say that something would be conceded to South West after the election, which we rejected.”
Asserting that the South must complete its 8-year tenure, Bode George further observed that “no reasonable southerner would wholeheartedly campaign for a candidate for the North to emerge President of Nigeria in 2027,” because it would be cheating and a total disrespect to the entire South.
On the Issue of the former Anambra State governor, the former military administrator of Ondo State also opined, that the only way Obi would realise his presidential dream is on the PDP platform and not on the Labour Party platform which the PDP chieftain said has a fragmented structure. He also added: “There is no way the present LP can withstand the strength of President Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2027. The only party that has such a taproot, structure, and support is the PDP. I also do not believe that Tinubu’s re-election will be easy as people assume. He can only be ousted by the PDP in 2027 if only the leaders of the party do the right thing and are seen to toe the path of fairness, justice, and equity.”
Further, George made a passionate appeal to Wike, asking him to rethink his rebellion against the party. He further pleaded that though the FCT minister and others who are rebelling against PDP are hurt, they should allow the interest of the country to override whatever pain they may be feeling. In the same vein, Bode George also appealed to well-meaning Nigerians who are suffering the pains of President Tinubu’s economic policies to join forces with the PDP because according to him, “Nigeria, under the PDP, was not as bad as it is at present. The administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, which was blackmailed by the APC, was not as bad as what we are going through now.”
Finally, the elder statesman lamented about what he refers to as the undue interference of the federal government in the state politics of the Rivers, Osun, and Lagos states, and the interference in the emirate issue in Kano which he said could easily turn into a national insecurity issue if caution is not applied.