By Kolawole Ojebisi
A Chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Bode George has explained how things fell apart between him and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, after the 2023 presidential election.
George, who is also a member of the PDP Board of Trustees, noted that he backed Wike against former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, in the buildup to the 2023 general elections.
George, a former Ondo military governor explained 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.
Speaking on the crisis rocking the PDP, George traced the lingering problem to the outcome of the party’s national convention in 2022.
The PDP chieftain spoke on Arise TV on Friday, January 31, 2025. He accused the then-national chairman of the party, Iyorchia Ayu and Atiku, of orchestrating the problem, saying they disrupted the party’s zoning arrangement.
“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.
Before taking sides with Wike, George said he had tried to persuade Atiku and Ayu to reason with him, but they didn’t listen to him.
He said he took sides with Wike because he was disgusted with what Atiku and Ayu did at the convention. He added 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 is. He had ruled my state, and we know his modus operandi,” he said.
