A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Bode George, has accused the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, of meddling in the selection of governorship candidates for both the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the PDP in Rivers State.
The development was described as troubling by George, who warned that it could destabilise the PDP and the country’s political environment if not addressed.
Speaking on Wednesday during an interview on Arise Television’s *Morning Show*, the PDP chieftain stated that…
George said he was concerned over the lingering crisis in the PDP, describing it as unprecedented.
He criticised some party members, especially those in Wike’s faction, for allegedly refusing to comply with the party’s rules and procedures.
George said the Court of Appeal in Ibadan had earlier directed the aggrieved parties to meet and resolve their internal crisis, but said some of those involved refused to attend.
The matter later went to the Supreme Court which upheld the suspension of three members of the party’s National Working Committee, he said.
“You can drag a horse to the brook, but you can’t make him drink,” said George.
You know it is in their own purview to accept that there is a political party with a program, with a statute, with procedures, and if they fail to abide, that’s why I call them agent provocateurs.
“You remember the Court of Appeal in Ibadan said we should go and hold a meeting and see how to resolve our internal problem. They won’t show up.
“Now they’ve gone to the Supreme court. The Supreme Court has said all three members of the working committee are still under suspension.”
George Urges Tinubu To Advise Wike
The PDP elder asked why the affected persons would not accept the decision of the apex court and maintained that no one should operate above the law.
“So would you not accept the ruling of the highest body?,” he said. If you want to be a good politician, I will refer him, fortunately he is a lawyer, there is a Magna Carta charter in England here, which says that even the King of England cannot be above the law.
“Therefore no one is above the law.”
George called on President Bola Tinubu to call Wike to order, whom he accused of being a “agent provocateur”.
“There’s more of what they call a political undertaker and an agent provocateur,” he said. For God’s sake, you don’t need this in this country.
‘It won’t be him only if he’s able to destabilise the country. “The fault will be on the president, because he’s not the president.”
George claimed that Wike was involved in deciding who would be the APC and PDP candidates in Rivers State, despite still claiming to be a PDP member.
“A man who says he is a member of our party has appointed somebody, now nominated somebody to be the governorship candidate for APC in Rivers and is also nominating somebody to be the PDP governorship candidate.
“What sort of thing is this? I had never seen nothing like this. Somebody ought to say something to him, and the only man who can warn him is the president.”
The former deputy national chairman of the PDP, warned that the situation could trigger a wider political crisis if not handled carefully.
“We don’t want a repeat of 1962 in the western region because you only know the beginning of a crisis,” he said. You can’t know how it went.”
