Chief Olabode George, the Atona Oodua of the Source and former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in this interview with TEMIDAYO AKINSUYI, shares his thoughts on developments in the nation ahead of the 2023 general elections. Excerpts:
Some elders of your party are concerned that the national chairman, Iyorchia Ayu has been taking orders from state governors and has technically surrendered the party to them. Are you also worried about that?
Ayu is one of the nine people that started this party and he is not a pushover character. He is a very deft politician who is highly experienced. For those who are complaining about the governors, are they also not members of the party? They can’t be governors in perpetuity. If he listens to them, it doesn’t mean he will just take their advice hook, line and sinker. He will listen to what they say but he will think it through and examine it before taking a decision. The beauty of democracy is that we must have robust debate before any decision is taken. There is no organisation that does not have one crisis or the other. But the ability of the managers to go through serious discussion, lobby, which are all part of democracy, determines their strength. At the centre of such serious discussion is the truth which they must tell themselves.
I want to tell our people to just hold on a little bit. I really don’t know where these fireworks are coming from. To me, the man is committed and abidingly loyal to the cause of the PDP. Like I said, he was one of the nine people who started PDP here in Lagos. He knows the culture and workings of the party.
The moment we had a presidential candidate, automatically, the presidential candidate becomes the leader of the party. But because there was a lacuna, the period of absence of the former Vice- President who was our presidential candidate created a vacuum in the hierarchy. The governors then felt they can’t leave the headship vacant. So, they got into it and they are now telling us that they now own the party. It’s like a competition and a chunky part of the party Have you ever seen anybody who is governor who will one day not leave his position? The position is not a perpetual one. So, to me, I will say let them still give the new NWC time. They are just settling down because the former NWC that just left were really ‘National Wacking Committee’. They never consulted anybody but were just firing on all cylinders and did so many things that we knew one day will almost bring this party down.
They just started. They have Ekiti and Osun governorship elections ahead of them to manage. These are things that could have been better managed. They are going back to the grassroots now to re-establish the party which is highly commendable. I have no doubt in my mind that they will do their best with the support and help of other elders and stakeholders who are loyal to the party. All they need from us is our cooperation. We must join hands with them to ensure they succeed.
President Buhari will be completing his term next year. Which candidate do you think your party can present that has the national appeal to defeat whoever the ruling party fields?
When we get to the bridge, we will cross it. There are so many people in the party all over the country that are competent, cerebral and are nationalistic in their behaviour and character. This decision will require the input of the elders, the party managers, the governors, lawmakers both at federal and state levels to come together. We will debate and put all parameters in the equation and we will find a solution as to which zone and person that will become our flagbearer. We will get there soon.
Do you think age should be a factor in choosing the presidential candidate as being canvassed by some people in your party?
All those will be in the parameter that the party will consider. But there are so many extra parameters now that are coming into play. When the founding fathers conceptualised this idea of zoning, none of them thought that there could be an issue where the presidential candidate will come from another party and from either Northern or Southern zone. Nobody ever thought about that. But today, it is a major parameter in the political equation of this country and in our party. General Buhari is from North-West and he will be finishing his eight years as President next year. Is he not a Nigerian? Do we say it doesn’t concern the PDP because he is from APC? You see that that parameter is a very key part of that political equation. So, we will have to sit down for serious discussion. I’m saying this because the number of people who are card carrying members is much smaller than the total electorate. We will have to weave the concern of the Nigerian voters into the equation too. I believe that because our party is not a conglomeration of strange bedfellows and we are also not a contraption like the other party, we will discuss and look at all these various issues and how it may affect the outcome of the election.
Will your party feel the pulse of Nigerians to know who they really wanted before arriving at this decision?
We will consider the interests and feelings of Nigerians across the six geo-political zones of the country because we will be telling them to trust our party with their votes. That is why anybody we are putting forward as our presidential candidate, we must be able to x-ray the person. Who is this character? What does he do for a living? How has he been impacting people in this country even before the election? Is he only concerned about his family members and cronies alone? These are serious issues we need to consider. We can’t just present anybody that will just appear from nowhere and will begin to lie to the people just because he wants to grab power. Once you start lying in order to get votes, it shows you are not reliable. If you keep telling the people lies, you will also lie about your competence. Only for you to get there and they discover you are not what you claim to be. That is not the kind of candidate we want. We want to know who you are. If you tell us you went to this particular school, we will verify it because we don’t want anyone that will bring the name of our dear party into disreput.
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