CHIEF Olabode Ibiyinka George is a former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
In this interview monitored on the Morning Show of Arise television, George takes a swipe at former Vice President Atiku Abubakar over his proposed anti-Tinubu coalition saying the PDP is not his private fiefdom.
By Olayinka Ajayi
Mr Nyesom Wike is saying that the PDP has faded away and that the PDP cannot win any election in 2027. Also, governors are decamping quietly to the APC supporting President Bola Tinubu. What are your thoughts on these?
The first issue is saying that governors are decamping. We are running a system where the governors are despicable.
It is about time we revisit the system we are running in Nigeria. There was a time we had late President Umaru Yar’Adua when they had some crisis in South Africa, he appointed me and some others to wade into a crisis. It was when we got there that I realised that the system by which they handled their elections was very different from ours.
For every election, no individual name gets the ticket for a party. It is the party that contests the election.
At the end of the election, that is when they decide.
That is why when you say the party is supreme there, the party is supreme. I am shocked that a party that gave you the tools, the platform, a party that recognised you to go on its platform, you campaigned on that and you started looking around flip-flopping.
This is 2025 and they still have two years to go and you are decamping, jumping. Who knows what would happen? 24 hours in politics is a long time. I am very disappointed with these governors because they got the platform of the party and the electorates supported them because of the programmes of the party. Halfway, you are now thinking of going back.
Have you spoken to the PDP governors decamping and where do you stand on a coalition of opposition parties and the PDP?
The South African model is that in any election, it is the party that contests and after the election, the electoral process will compute the figures made. They would then ask the party to give the nomination of President among others. So if there are any fracas, the party is supreme, it has the power to withdraw your candidature and send you packing.
That is why there’s loyalty and dedication to the party are assured. I saw it and they told us that if Thabo Mbeki does not align with the party during the ANC conference, he would be removed as president.
You cannot be on your own and be roaming around like a rudderless-ship. I am shocked they are saying the PDP is over and they are jumping from frying pan to fire. Apart from Tinubu being the President, what is in the APC for God’s sake? You want to go to a party that has no structure. Halfway you are looking at self-aggrandizement, what about the people that led you there? There’s so much to be done about the constitution of our country, we can’t just be wish-washing and riding around like a rudderless ship. The party is where they cracked and a divided house will remain a defeated house. We have just started to mend. The meeting by the governors was very sensible, they had proposed a certain agenda, and that agenda would be taken to the National Working Committee, NWC, for consideration. After that, the NWC would look at it, add or subtract, and bring it to the National Executive of the Party, which is the next highest body before the convention. We will debate it. We have a structure in which we manage ourselves. But for you halfway out you are jumping and committing suicide. The power of the people determines who is the governor based on the party.
As we approach 2027, who do you see leading the PDP as a presidential candidate?
I was born in a political home. My great grand uncle, Pa Herbert Macaulay, was the first Nigerian politician; he formed the first political party in 1922. I grew up in that house, and that is why a thoroughly bred politician does not go to bed until about five or six in the morning because if you go to bed too early, all the decisions made would have changed.
In other words, no individual in our party (PDP) owns the party.
It is the will of the people that matters not your aggrandizement. Look at Baba Awolowo and the programmes he started. For those who are now forming a mega party, what is the purpose of that mega party? You are a member of a solid organisation, but you now want to pull out, and you are meeting with Baba Buhari, is he a member of our party? Have you discussed it with somebody else? Is PDP a private company? Nobody owns PDP.
You bring such matters within the party and it is discussed. Once it is approved, then you move. You don’t just flip-flop because of your ambition. Is Gen. Muhammadu Buhari a member of our party? We presented you (Atiku) against him and he flogged you a little kid. If you look at those who visited Buhari, they are all from one side.
Who are the others from our party? My conclusion was: What is this man trying to do with this mega party? Is he trying to divide Nigeria from the North to the South? The founding fathers of the party were selfless, committed and dedicated; they came up with a template that would allow all Nigerians to be part of the political process of our nation. What did we do? We are all dancing on their graves.
In 2019, Atiku manipulated it, he got the ticket, in 2023, he got the ticket, and now he’s trying to get the ticket again. Is it a private fiefdom?
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