…Says Delta governor must vacate seat
By Chinelo Obogo
Former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olabode George, has said the defection of the Delta Governor is shocking.
George said he is ‘shell shocked’ that Sheriff Oborevwori, the current governor of Delta State and Ifeanyi Okowa, his predecessor, who were both elected on the platform of the PDP, could defect from an ‘organised party’ to an ‘unorganised’ party.
Daily Sun had on Monday, exclusively revealed the secret deal President Bola Tinubu had struck with the PDP governors, most of whom have agreed to support his re-election.
But George, while reacting to the development, said the Delta governor would have to give up his position since he was elected on the platform of the PDP.
“I am shell-shocked. How can our governors from an organised party defect to an unorganised party like APC, with only two people, Tinubu and Ganduje, dictatorially controlling the party?
“APC is a party of strange bedfellows, and I urge Deltans not to follow Oborevwori to APC because Delta is a PDP state from 1999, and it shall remain so.
“Presidency and APC are using instruments of state to coerce PDP governors to defect to APC. They are being threatened. PDP sponsored Oborevwori as the governorship candidate.
“So, he has to leave office. Attempts to turn Nigeria to a one-party state will fail. What has APC done since 2015 that will warrant any PDP governor to defect to the party?” George said.
George had earlier urged the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike and the country’s former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, to leave the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with immediate effect.
In a statement on Wednesday, George said he wondered why Atiku and Wike should be hobnobbing with opposition elements and still claim to be part of the PDP structure, saying, “What exactly is going on? Anybody who is tired of PDP should leave and join another party.
“Enough of this embarrassment. As a founding elder of this party, I will not watch while some people openly disrespect the party.”
George also questioned Atiku’s recent visit to former President Muhammadu Buhari in Kaduna, stating, “General Buhari remains my boss, but he is not a member of our party.
“So, why is Atiku hobnobbing with him politically? Is he not guilty of an anti-party offence already? The other day, President Bola Tinubu told Wike that APC must win the council election in FCT, and he agreed.
“Wike has been given a direct order to win FCT for APC, and he still claims to be a member of PDP. Are people now shameless politically that they cannot be principled? Where is the leadership of our party? Why are they tolerating Atiku and Wike?
“Why are they allowing the duo to continue to embarrass our party publicly?
“Now, some governors are joining them to endorse Tinubu’s reelection in 2027. I ask again, what exactly is going on in our party? Has discipline gone to the dogs? Has everything broken down completely?
“Has sanity taken flight in the way we run the party now? Nigerians are yearning for change, which only the PDP can offer because ours is the only organised party.
“Apart from Ganduje, who else do you know in APC NWC? APC is a one-man show being controlled from the Villa. This is the time for the national leadership of PDP to take decisive steps to save our great party.
“As a founding member of our party and an elder statesman, I call on other elders of our party to call Atiku and Wike to order, as the two are not bigger than the PDP. They cannot continue hobnobbing with enemies of our party and think I will keep quiet.
“The truth must be told every time without minding whose ox is gored. This is the time to save our party from those undermining PDP from within.
“If Atiku is strategising on how to form a coalition with others because of 2027, he should do that outside the structure of our party. You cannot be within and be working against the interest of this party.
“We will never allow that. Wike’s case is very clear to everybody. He wants to be in the good books of Tinubu while working against our party.
“He is an adult and knows what is good for him politically, but you cannot claim to be in the PDP and be working against the interest of the party.
“Many people do not know that what Wike did in Rivers, leading to the emergency rule declaration of March 18, is anti-party activity. He organises live interviews across television Stations as if he is the president and attacks PDP in the process.
“If there is any iota of shame left in him, this is the time for him to leave our party. His strategy is to continue to work within the party for the President’s re-election.
“This is the time for our party leadership to wield the big stick because nobody is more powerful than the party.
“The moment we remove the liabilities in our party, we will be in a formidable position, as an opposition party, to take over power from APC at the federal level in 2027.
“Due to the anti-people policies of APC, Nigerians are going through a lot, and they are waiting for PDP to alleviate their suffering in 2027, “he said.