2027: Some People Say PDP Is Dead — Bode George

Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, is grappling with internal strife, leading to the splitting of the party into three groups. Central to the power tussle is the controversy over the tenure of the party’s Acting National Chairman, Ambassador Umar Damagum, and the struggle for party’s ticket for the 2027 presidential election.

In this interview first aired on Arise News TV, a former Deputy National Chairman, Chief Olabode Ibiyinka George, calls for a holistic approach in resolving the crisis rocking the party. Excerpts:

The crisis in your party, PDP, is lingering for so long. Why is it so difficult to resolve?

You know, human beings are human beings. The only perfect being is the Almighty God. I have listened to a lot of people making comments on the state of our party. In fact, some people say that our party is dead but our party is not dead. Discussions are ongoing and, like you also observed that there are three major groups: The group of Damagum, the group of Atiku, and some other groups. As a life member of the Board of Trustee, BoT, I want you to look at our role in the management of the party. BoT is the custodian of the assets and liabilities of the party and it is also the mediator when we have crisis like this.

I keep telling people we can disagree without being disagreeable, and I believe that this is not something that is completely out of control because if we are able to manage ourselves effectively, we will be able to convince the electorate (in 2027), and no matter what crisis come to us as a government (post 2027), we will be able to manage such crisis.

Recently the BoT met in Abuja and came up with certain decisions and suggestions but it’s not yet over. They have fixed a National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting for February 24, 2025 and I believe that before then, to avoid any unusual behaviour at that meeting, we still need to take certain steps as members of BoT because, we are not judges. At the highest level, the NEC of the party is next to the National Convention.

The highest level is the National Convention and next level is the NEC. At NEC, BoT members are not allowed to vote, only permanent members of BoT are allowed to vote. So, we need to temper and calm down, to look at the problems where they started, not just jump into the middle in discussing the problems.

What started this crisis? We cannot avoid discountenancing the beginning of this crisis without actually putting everything involved on the table of where we can resolve it. I don’t know whether I have the time to go to the depths of it but what I am pleading with every BoT member is that we should be very calm, we should be God-fearing, we have to be fair, just and be absolutely equitable in resolving this crisis.

Atiku has his own side, what happened at that time that he got the ticket, what happened to Section 7 sub-section 3C of our constitution that affirms that there will be zoning and rotation of elective party positions and the other positions.

There were mistakes that were made. This is a national party, not a private enterprise. The first mistake that was made was that Iyorchia Ayu was the National Chairman… Fine, he appointed the Chairman of that convention, a former Senate President who is also from Benue State. So, he concentrated that decision on the Chairman, David Mark, and himself. And, I said, “Look, this doesn’t go well”, and then you made a promise.

There were reasons why we allowed every zone to contest. Have people forgotten what happened on that convention floor? These are serious issues and we must ensure they don’t happen again. We accepted that because of the reasons they gave. Now, everybody seems to believe and behave as if that doesn’t matter, including what Damagum is doing. Something leads to something and that’s why we found ourselves where we are. Let’s be honest with ourselves.

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I have no qualms about this. I am not supporting Damagum or Atiku or anybody. My concern is that this party should not be allowed to collapse. The founding fathers did so much to get us to this level. So, let’s holistically look at it so that we don’t repeat the mistake of the pitfalls of the past and that’s what we are saying; that we look at it from all sides.

No one, as far as I am concerned, has committed harakiri, (but) they have totally disrupted the norms of the party, and it should be looked at in that manner. I have said to them, please calm down, forget about A or B, all we want to do is to show to the electorate that this party is much better organised than the party in government.

You have talked so much about reconciliations without saying anything about sanctions? What kind of peace is your party seeking with the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, who had allegedly threatened to destroy the party?

These are accusations. Like I told you, the fellow on the other side, who should be the father, like a leader, like an elder in the room, they are busy thinking whether to contest or not to contest. If you want to be the elder in the room, don’t take sides or come out the way we allowed him to contest at that time on the platform of the party. Let me clear one issue. I do not have any authority to tell any Nigerian that “you cannot contest”, but I have every input as to who is to be the man to take the ticket of our party because there are procedures you must follow.

The laws are there. I can’t say “Atiku don’t contest”. All I can say is that “General Muhamadu Buhari, who is a northerner, has just finished 8 years and so the party’s presidential candidate must come from the South”. That’s all we are saying because this was how the founding fathers established the norms so that there can be peace, so that the shenanigans of the past will not be washed away, every Nigerian will now be guaranteed that you have a place in this country. There were certain reasons adduced that time to convince us that we said “let’s open it up, who wants to contest should contest” because there was delay and on that basis we accepted.

Then, you promised that if the presidential candidate comes from the North, you would resign because there are six top positions from all the six zones in the country. You make sure that every zone has a sense of belonging to the party and they will be loyal and committed to the party but if you start to extract certain groups and certain zones from being parts and parcel of the party, you are looking for trouble. Our opposition people seized that opportunity and threw us the canvas and to avoid that once again, let’s get back, let’s look at it. A committee should be set up to look at it holistically, and that’s our responsibility as BoT members. We are mediators, we are not judges. Like I said, I looked at Atiku group, I looked at Damagum’s group, and they are talking about what Wike did.

They are not acceptable to me, all of them, the way they are doing. No. But we can resolve this crisis. Let us get people who are much calmer with the fear of God; like a real Board of Trustee, we are the upper chamber, we do not condemn A or B because we are not judges, we are elders, and, as such, mediators. Everybody, whatever mistakes you made, we will tell you straight to your face so that you don’t repeat it and then we can see how we can go back to the constitution of the party, exercise the rules as laid down, so that this party can get up. Look at the state of the nation, I have said it severally that Nigeria is in a political and economic intensive care unit, we are sick.

It is disheartening; people are hungry and, therefore, angry. Go anywhere, whether you are a rich man or a poor man, we have certain things we would have done if we were in government to make sure that there are seriously considered palliatives to calm the nerves of Nigerians. There are two important months of the year. Whether you are a Christian or Muslim or an atheist, there is December, end of the year, everybody wants to thank the Almighty God, your Creator, for keeping you up to this point. The next most important month is January, where you will say, “Here I go again, my Creator, please be my guardian”. Now, the anger in the cities among every Nigerian is unimaginable.

So, what do you do to put smiles on the faces of these people? What are they doing? We have a systematic way of putting smiles in the faces of Nigerians and not this crisis. In 1999, when Obasanjo became president, he had unified governance, appointed people from all kinds of parties. Wike also applied to be a Minister under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, if we find out that certain moves and things that he has been doing are not in conformity, at that meeting, he will be told directly that “what you are doing us is undermining the party”. Right now, everybody has committed one harakiri or the other.

So you don’t pinpoint one individual and say “you are the only one… go and fire him”, we don’t have the powers to fire anybody. We can only mediate as elders and that’s what we do. So please, I am begging all members of the Board of Trustee to calm down, a divided house means a defeated house.

There is an arrangement for the North Central to nominate a replacement for Ayu while Damagum reverts to his former position. What’s your take on that?

You know the National Working Committee, NWC, cannot nominate members of the BoT. No! I worked at the party’s National Secretariat for 10 years; firstly, as the Vice Chairman South-West, secondly, as the Deputy National Chairman, South, thirdly, as the Deputy National Chairman overall.

All these are stories people are propounding and propelling to undermine A or B, and they cannot. You know they said that they want to take over BoT? How? In BoT, we don’t vote for any position because it is the upper chamber; once the Chairman or the Secretary has done something or something has happened, we ask you to shift, let somebody else come there.

We agree, we don’t vote, we don’t carry out election because it is the revolving and the rounding unit. Please, all these members, I am appealing to them, let us not lose our focus. Individualism has no basis in our party.

I am begging all of them, because if we lose this party, no individual has the powers to undermine a massive Iroko organisation like the PDP. People are saying “let us go back to ourselves and not our personal ambitions. Drop your personal ambition”.

Where are the men of yester -years, where are they today? Please, do it so we will have the fear of God in us so that we will manage the resources of this land for the benefits of Nigerians. That’s all. What do I want to become now that I cannot face anybody if you are not doing what is good and remind you that what you are doing is against the constitution of this party, so that you will stop dancing on the graves of those old men who sacrificed their efforts and commitment for this party to emerge? Remember the late Dr Alex Ekwueme’s contributions to the party.

He was the chief convener of those people who founded the PDP. He contested two times in presidential elections against Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and lost. He didn’t bring down the roof. That is what you expect from civilized people.