Chief Olabode George, a former deputy national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), issued a warning Wednesday that the opposition party may lose the presidential election in 2019 due to its crises.
He claimed that the outcome of the platform in the polls in 2023 will depend on how the extended leadership conflict is addressed.
If Senator Iyorchia Ayu, the PDP’s national chairman, does not step down, George warned that the party may become polarized and split into the Northern Peoples Democratic Party (NPDP) and Southern Peoples Democratic Party (SPDP).
He said: “Let me declare categorically that the positions of presidential candidate and national chairman cannot come from the same zone.”
Navy Commodore George discussed the effects of the party’s exclusionary and unequal political strategies with reporters in Lagos.
The party senior, who was present with his wife Rolly, Senator Kofoworola Akerele-Bucknor, and other party leaders, encouraged Ayu to keep his vow to resign if a candidate for president arose from the North.
He bemoaned the PDP for breaking the inclusionary concept by having a candidate, chairman, and campaign director from the North.
According to George, the Southwest should receive the national chairmanship to foster a sense of inclusion, belonging, equity, and justice.
The Northern PDP Elders Support Group encouraged the warring chieftains to stop firing, highlighting the fact that the platform does not benefit from the continuing crisis.
The party’s elders believe the PDP is in “clear and present danger,” which could close the window of opportunity for victory.
He claimed that the party’s coherence and unity are being sacrificed to maintain misguided personal interests.
George declared that he would not jump on the bandwagon of dishonest politicians for the 2023 project if Ayu refused to resign.
He stressed: “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.’
“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 this year, we elected our presidential candidate in the person of HE. Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, 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 that there is nothing wrong with this present arrangement.
“Some have argued that this happened during Chief 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 National Chairman, Dr 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.”
George maintained that Ayu must quit for a new chairman to emerge from another zone before the presidential campaign starts.
He said: “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 Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, from the same zone, leading our national campaign?
“This will be an affront, impunity, and an insult to the electorate and party members from the South.
“Dr. 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 Southwest?
“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.”
George emphasized that the Board of Trustees (BoT) chairman’s resignation was insignificant and noted that it is not one of the top six roles recognized by the party.
He also criticized the vote of confidence for Ayu and the NWC that was voted at the most recent National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting, claiming that it was invalidated by the absence of the majority of Southern members.
He claimed that Dr. Ayu’s refusal to resign has only succeeded in informing PDP members from the South that they are unimportant.
George thinks that by retaining Ayu in office, Atiku would be playing with the outcome of the election.
He added: “The position of national chairman must revert to the South now and not after the general elections.
“If we don’t do that, then, you are telling some Nigerians that you don’t need them to win in 2023 and that will be very unfortunate.”
George emphasised that “if this issue is not addressed urgently, it means some members of our party are working for the opposition or against the interest of our party.”
He said: “What Southwesterners in our party are asking for is very simple: we don’t want the position of Director-General of the Presidential Campaign, rather, we want the office of the national chairman. This we have made very clear.
“Our party must do the needful now. Anything else will be suicidal.”
However, in the party’s best interest, the Elders’ Support Group of the Northern People’s Democratic Party asked offended chieftains to give peace a chance.
The organization advised Southern PDP elders to exercise caution and abstain from actions that would jeopardize the party’s success.
To them, the current effort to get Ayu removed must come to a peaceful and amicable conclusion. They contend that in order for the PDP to advance and come together before the inauguration of the Atiku/Okowa Presidential Campaign Council, all parties involved must put down their swords.
