Bode George also expressed concern about the protracted crisis within the PDP, describing the situation as unprecedented.
By Kehinde Okeowo
Former military governor and chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Bode George, has asked President Bola Tinubu to rein in the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, to prevent a recurrence of the political violence that engulfed the Western Region of Nigeria in 1962.
He gave this advice on Wednesday morning while appearing as a guest on the Arise Television programme, ‘Morning Show’.
He was reacting to the minister’s involvement in the selection of gubernatorial candidates for both the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State.
According to George, this development is troubling and could destabilise the party and the wider political environment if not addressed.
The elder statesman went on to express concern about the protracted crisis within the PDP, describing the situation as unprecedented.
He berated some party members, particularly Wike’s faction, for failing to abide by internal rules and procedures despite efforts to resolve disputes.
He recalled that the Court of Appeal sitting in Ibadan had earlier directed aggrieved parties to convene a meeting to settle their differences, but noted that those involved refused to attend.
According to him, the matter was subsequently taken to the Supreme Court, which upheld the suspension of three members of the party’s National Working Committee.
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Speaking during the interview, George said: “The point is you can only lead a horse to water, you cannot force that horse to drink.
“You understand it is in their own purview to accept that there is a political party with a programme, with a statute, with procedures, and if they fail to abide, that’s why I call them agents provocateurs.
“You remember the Court of Appeal in Ibadan said we should go and hold a meeting and see how we can resolve our internal problem. They refused to turn up.
“Now they have gone to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has said all those three who were members of the working committee remain suspended.
“So will you not accept the ruling of the highest body? You know, if you want to be a good politician—I will refer him, fortunately he’s a lawyer—there is a Magna Carta charter in England here, which states that even the King of England cannot be above the law.
“So, nobody can be above the law. And being a lawyer, I don’t know which school of law he went to, but as an engineer, I know for real that I read it because I studied history too; the Magna Carta charter says it all. So, if he says he doesn’t want to do this and that, I will advise—I will send my advice to the President—that he only pretends to be working for him.
“He is more of what they call a political undertaker and an agent provocateur. You don’t need this in this country, for God’s sake. It will not only affect him if he is able to destabilise the country. The blame will be on the President, because he is not the president.
“A man who says he is a member of our party has appointed somebody, has now nominated somebody to be the governorship candidate for the APC in Rivers, and is also nominating somebody to be the PDP governorship candidate.
“What kind of thing is this? I have never seen anything like this. Somebody needs to talk to him, and the only man who can caution him is the President.
“We do not want a repeat of what happened in 1962 in the Western Region because you can only know the beginning of a crisis. How it ends, you cannot know.”
