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By Lawrence Agbo
A former National Vice Chairman (South-West) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olabode George, has attributed the lingering crisis within the opposition party to greed and the growing disregard for its founding principles.
George made the remarks on Thursday during a current affairs programme, Frontline, on Eagle 102.5 FM in Ijebu-Ilese, Ogun State.
Reflecting on the internal conflicts rocking the Peoples Democratic Party, the PDP chieftain said the division within the party did not arise from ideological disagreements but from individuals who ignored the rules established by the party’s founding fathers.
His comments come amid deepening divisions within the PDP following the aftermath of the 2023 Nigerian general election, which triggered intense leadership disputes, zoning disagreements and struggles for control of party structures in several states.
The crisis has weakened the opposition party and resulted in a wave of defections by governors, lawmakers and senior members to the ruling All Progressives Congress and other political parties.
One of the notable defections occurred in December 2025 when Siminalayi Fubara reportedly moved to the APC alongside lawmakers loyal to him, while other leaders across different states also left the PDP amid the internal rift.
The situation worsened after the Court of Appeal of Nigeria voided the PDP’s November 15–16, 2025, national convention held in Ibadan, Oyo State.
The appellate court upheld an earlier ruling by the Federal High Court of Nigeria, which restrained the Independent National Electoral Commission from recognising the outcome of the convention after finding that the party failed to comply with constitutional and electoral procedures, including the conduct of congresses in several states before the convention.
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George, a former military administrator of Ondo State, explained that the PDP was deliberately structured to ensure national balance through its zoning arrangement, which allowed different regions of the country to take turns occupying the presidency and other key political offices.
According to him, the arrangement began to collapse when certain individuals placed personal ambition above the collective interest of the party.
“I don’t want to go back into the details of how this nonsense started. It started because of avarice, because of greed, because of a lack of respect for constituted authorities,” George said.
He added that the party’s zoning formula was designed by senior political leaders to guarantee fairness among Nigeria’s diverse ethnic and regional groups and to stabilise the country’s political structure.
George lamented that the system began to break down when some party members chose to challenge the established zoning arrangement in pursuit of personal political ambitions.
“How did we miss it? The main point is human greed. One fellow came out and said, ‘I don’t care whatever it is, I am going to contest.’ All the manipulation they created followed from there,” he added.
The PDP elder statesman warned that abandoning the principles laid down by the party’s founding fathers had significantly contributed to the internal turmoil currently confronting the opposition party.
He maintained that restoring discipline and respect for the party’s foundational rules remains the only path to rebuilding unity and stability within the PDP.
