Rest 31-year presidential ambition, Bode George tells Atiku

A former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic
Party, Chief Bode George, has advised former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to
end his 31-year-long bid to be President.

Noting that Atiku’s bid to be President dated back to the
year 1993, George said it was high time the former Vice President retired from
such a contest, especially in the 2027 election.

Addressing a press conference at his Ikoyi, Lagos office, on
Thursday, George urged Atiku to assume the position of an elder in the nation
and leave his bid to posterity.

“To Atiku, my advice is this, you will be 81 years old in
2027, and you have been contesting for the presidency since 1993. This is the
time for you to calm down and act like an elder. I appeal to you in the name of
the Almighty Allah, that you serve, to take it easy and leave everything for
posterity,” George said.

 “Nigerians are angry
and hungry. Instead of telling the APC the truth, some divisive, arrogant and
haughty members are busy romancing the ruling party and they are quick to refer
to themselves as elder statesmen. Instead of instigating a crisis in our party,
why are they not bold enough to defect to the APC? Do they really fear God at
all? No member is big enough to hold the party to ransom,” George added.

Particularly pointing to the crisis between Rivers State Governor,
Siminalayi Fubara, and his predecessor and Minister of the Federal Capital
Territory, Nyesom Wike,  George urged
Wike to immediately “cool off” from wanting to “bring down” Fubara.

George said it was worrisome that some party members rather
than bringing the two parties to mediation further fuelled the Fubara/Wike
crisis for their selfish interests.

“My advice to Wike is very simple. You are my political son.
I am therefore appealing to him to cool off immediately. I know he was injured
by friends during the last PDP presidential contest but I am advising him as a
father to please take it easy. Nobody is bigger than any party. Forget what
happened in the past and let us work together in the interest of this party.

“I want to ask the elders at the helm of affairs of our
party today, ‘What exactly is the offence of Governor Siminalayi Fubara of
Rivers State?’ What exactly is the offence of this gentleman that some elders
of our party are trying to throw him under the bus because of political expediency?
What exactly is going on that some party members don’t feel bothered about the
happenings in Rivers State? Governor Fubara was helped by Governor Wike to
become the number one citizen of the oil-bearing state. The governor himself
acknowledged this on several occasions.

“Must the governor now behave like a slave to his
predecessor and other characters because of this concept of godfatherism which
is a misnomer in our politics? Why are some party members encouraging his
predecessor to bring him down? He is in Abuja; he wants to control what goes on
in Rivers State.

“Did the governors before him behave this way? Why are the
party leaders not eager to mediate and bring both groups to normalcy? The PDP
cannot continue like this. Why can’t we learn from our past mistakes? Is our
party jinxed? Why can’t we tell all these troublemakers to go and sit down if
they don’t want this party to move forward?”

Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday

Advertise on Areatatafo.com.ng to reach thousands of our daily users