A former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Bode George says he has no ambition of becoming the next chairman of the party.
He, however, advocated the need for the PDP to zone the chairmanship position to the South West saying the region remains the only one that has not got the position since 1999. George said this when he addressed newsmen shortly after his return from an overseas trip.
He also called on the interim national chairman of the party, Senator Ali Modu Sherrif to honour his word to handover to an elected chairman at the National Convention on May 21 this year.
The PDP leader, in his address entitled: ‘Our Party at crossroads’, argued that the national chairmanship of the party should be zoned to South West now.
Faulting speculations of his interest in the chairmanship position, George said “I have no plan, no ambition, slide or straightforward looking for it” He however said that a lot of his friends, elders of the party have been saying that if the position is zoned to the South West they will push him for it.
He said they are saying this because “you know we are in opposition, there is no Villa any more, no president from our party. Therefore management of the party must be different, it has to be serious strategic thinking, intellectually bias to reasoning and discourse and network with the people for you to take decision.”
George said: “On the issue of national chairmanship, based on the spirit of equity and fairness which is the foundation and principle upon which our party was build by our founding fathers, the South West deserves the national chairmanship now.
This is the right and proper thing which must be done. The South West is a significant zone for the Nigeria federation which cannot and must not be treated with levity.” Frowning at the delegation that went to the party’s National Executive Committee, NEC, that the South West was not interested in the chairmanship position, George said he was sad of the development.
While he faulted the delegation for not consulting with the elders of the party in the South West before making the remarks, he said “My reaction is that when we started the journey to rebuild the PDP in the South West, none of those people was a member of the party. None of them. Some of them along the line, they jumped on board the ship.” ‘, the constitution, the foundation , the wherewithal which attracted them to join the party, they had no understanding.
How can anybody in a family be washing his dirty linen in the market? It is like one is bringing curse home. Let them come and tell Yoruba people that they don’t want something good for them and see what would happen.”
They were even saying that the chairmanship should remain in the north. Are they really Oodua sons?” Speaking further, he said “Let the zoning committee do its work, the report must be based on just, equity and once the committee submit its report, it is not a mushroom organisation, it will be discussed at the national caucus, at the BOT and then it will go to the NEC of the party for final approval and disapproval”, he said
Source: Vanguard