Bode George: How I Stopped Secondus From Sending PDP To ‘Hell’

Former military governor of Ondo State, Chief Bode George, has explained his role in efforts to replace Prince Uche Secondus as the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The recent weeks had seen the PDP battle to come out of a leadership crisis it has found itself in.

The crisis had led to calls for the resignation of Secondus as the main opposition party’s chairman.

But speaking when he appeared on Arise TV’s ‘The Good Morning Show’ on Wednesday, George said he was duty-bound to alert the PDP Board of Trustees on the need to remove Secondus as chairman before he sends the party to “hell”.

While noting that he had nothing against Secondus, the party chieftain said he was not in support of the chairman’s leadership style.

George’s statement came on the heels of a resolution reached by the PDP Governors Forum and the party’s BoT, which Gorge is a member, to bring forward the national convention of the party to October instead of December when the tenure of the Secondus-led National Working Committee (NWC) would expire.

He said on the TV programme: “I have nothing absolutely personal against our chairman. What I have (against him) is the management style.

“I have said it severally that this party is not a private company. The constitution must be followed to the letter. Once you start deviating and defying the constitution of the party, the elders must raise their voices and say “No! stop there, you’re taking us to hell”. So, that’s all I said.

“The issue is not personal, there’s nothing personal between me and “Total” …you know that’s his nickname.

“We love this party. The founding fathers made sure that the PDP is the only national party in its colours from the South all the way to the North. That’s why, for the first time, to have a national party that has all the tribes of Nigeria as members. It has never happened in the past history. So, when you start wobbling and the platform is not stable, you must talk. If you love the party, if you’re concerned about the party, if you’re dedicated and loyal to the party, you must talk,” he said.

George added that failure to quickly address the challenges facing the PDP before the 2023 general elections would affect the party’s performance at the polls.

“We cannot keep quiet because we are heading out to 2023. There are still so many things to be done. I was happy when the elders, that is the Board of Trustees, discussed it yesterday and the outcome was absolutely acceptable to everybody.

“So, I have nothing personal between me and ‘Total’. He knows what I had done for him in the past to assist him. But now when things are going wrong, the party is wobbling, you have to talk. Look at the state of the nation, Nigerians are looking for our party to get themselves organized to be able to give a really strong punch during the next sets of election,” he said.

THE WHISTLER reported that Secondus had earlier vowed not to succumb to calls for his resignation.

The PDP chairman’s media office had said “…nothing so far warrants his resignation from the party position and those tiny minority calling for his resignation should come clean and tell party members across the country his offense why he should resign.”