Former deputy national chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Bode George, has warned that PDP may lose the 2023 elections if its National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, fails to resign.
He said this during a press conference in Lagos, yesterday, insisting that heavens won’t fall if Ayu resigns from office, and that the vote of confidence passed in the party leader at its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting is irrelevant due to the fact that majority of executive members from the South were absent.
George warned that the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, must not take PDP members from the South for granted, or else, it would be suicidal.
He accused some of the leaders for being responsible for the crisis in the party due to their flawed personal interests.
“Our party is at the precipice of a dangerous looming crisis, if pending critical issues are not urgently addressed. Party unity and inclusiveness of all members are ingredients to a viable strategy for our election victory.
“I want our members to know that as one of the party fathers and as a former deputy national chairman of PDP, it is not in my character to belittle the interest of our party but when issues arise that may dent the progress of our party, one has to speak out and speak loud enough to arrest the attention of our people.
“I have no iota of tribalism in my blood, but will continue to fight tirelessly to ensure inclusiveness for all Nigerians in the political process of this country and, especially, in this party where some of us have suffered great injustice for the fight of equity and justice for all.
“While I reiterate my solidarity to the tenets of our party constitution, I will not remain passive when the collective unity of this party is fragmented. How we collectively address the issues at stake will be a major determinant of the fate of this party at the next general election.
“We should not allow any sentiment – ethnic or religious, to divide us. Unfortunately, with what we are presently witnessing, our party may lose the next presidential election if we continue to disregard or fail to address the feeling and grievances of ‘alienation’ being presently experienced by the entire southern population of this great country. If this issue is dismissed, we cannot expect votes from them.
“Until this party returns to the founding fathers’ principles of unity, with equity, fairness and justice being the pedestal for any political decision taken in this party; and ensuring broad-mindedness to accommodate the concerns of all zones in this country, PDP becomes vulnerable to disaster in the 2023 elections. Unless we are united, with equity, fairness and justice, our party may be fragmented before 2023.
“In May, we elected our presidential candidate in the person of Atiku, setting aside the principle of rotation as enshrined in the constitution of our party in the interest of peace and unity of our party. “Today, we are in a situation in which our national chairman is from the same zone as our presidential candidate.
“Some people are insisting there is nothing wrong with this present arrangement. Some have argued this happened during Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration, where the candidate and the national chairman were from the same zone.
“Let the truth be told, there are remarkable differences in the scenario then and now. Then we had the leader of the party who was then a sitting president from the South and the candidate was from the North.
“In addition, the former national chairman, Ahmadu Ali, was then on his way out. Today, we have no sitting president from our party in Aso Villa, so that argument falls flat. We need to stop playing games and being zombified.
“As envisaged by the founding fathers of our party, there are six top positions in our country: president, vice president, Senate president, speaker of the House of Representatives, secretary to the government of the federation (SGF) and national chairman of the party.
“Presently, we are not in government, therefore we only control three of these six positions namely: presidential, vice presidential candidates and national chairman.
“I remember Ayu said pointedly that if the presidential candidate emerges from the North, he would resign for a new national chairman to emerge from another zone before the presidential campaign starts.
“The other three positions are futuristic. It is only when we win the elections that we will fill these positions namely: the Senate president, the speaker and the SGF.
“As a result of the need to have inclusiveness, oneness and togetherness, it does not make any political sense for the presidential candidate and the national chairman to come from the same zone. Now, we have a situation in which some elders are saying, ‘it does not matter’. Can we go into the election with Atiku and Ayu from the same zone, leading our national campaign?
“This will be an affront, an impunity, and an insult to the electorate and party members from the South.
“Ayu promised openly, before the presidential primary in May, to resign, if the presidential candidate emerges from the North. So, why has he refused to honour his words? Why is he reneging? What is driving his reluctance not to resign?
“We are promising Nigerians that when we get to government, every tribe will have a say in government but now, how do we want Nigerians to trust us when we cannot fulfil a simple promise? Our national chairman made a pledge and in such a short time, he has broken the pledge.
“Our party members from the South are now asking the following questions patently: Have we thrown our integrity to the dogs? How will southern PDP leaders convince their electorate to vote for our candidate when there is no substantial national position in the South West?
“How can we go into the election season with this type of division and expect to win the February 25 presidential election? Unless we are united, unless we have fairness, equity and justice in our system, the party and the country are heading nowhere.
“I am not a soothsayer, but I have traversed the length and breadth of our country and have learnt so much politically. What I have predicted above will come to pass unless reason prevails and we apply the brake immediately.
“What is happening now is that many southerners are feeling alienated, two weeks to the commencement of the presidential campaign.
“I know that the chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT) and chairman, Governors’ Forum have resigned but of what importance is this? In our party hierarchy, BoT chairmen and Governors’ Forum are not that powerful.
