Taiwo Popoola
A chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, and member of the party’s Board of Trustees, Bode George, has explained why he fell out with Nyesom Wike, whom he supported to spite Atiku Abubakar during the build-up to the 2023 presidential election.
George, who spoke on Arise TV on Friday and that which was monitored by Urban Express News Online, accused the then-national chairman of the party, Iyorchia Ayu and Atiku, of orchestrating the problem in the PDP, saying they disrupted the party’s zoning arrangement.
The elder statesman attributed the unresolved crisis in the PDP to the outcome of the party’s national convention in 2022, adding that he temporarily supported Wike and his group during the build-up to the 2023 general election because the party’s top positions were zoned to the northern region.
“The presidential candidate went to the northern zone, and the chairman of the party also went to the same zone; we said no, it can’t happen like this.
“That was the basis of the party’s crisis. I didn’t just jump ship to be with Wike or Atiku; I had meetings with both of them and Ayu; they disrupted the system,” he said.
George explained that before taking sides with Wike, he tried to persuade Atiku and Ayu to reason with him, but they didn’t listen.
The Lagos-based politician said he took sides with Wike because he was disgusted with what Atiku and Ayu did at the convention.
He, however, noted that he dumped Wike’s group when he realised they wanted to support Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC.
“And when Wike people came, we had a meeting, and they made me a leader. In the end, we had two presidential candidates from the South, and they said they believed that Bola was the better person.
“I told them that if they stepped out of this meeting and talked about it outside there, I would counter you. You guys have no idea who this gentleman (Tinubu) is. He had ruled my state (Lagos), and we know his modus operandi,” George added.
