Elder statesman and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees (BoT) member, Bode George has warned that the party may descend into a leaderless crisis if urgent steps are not taken to address ongoing internal conflicts.
Naija News reports that George issued this warning during an interview on Channels TV’s Politics Today, on Friday, expressing concerns over the party’s current direction.
The PDP, Nigeria’s main opposition party, has been grappling with leadership tussles and internal divisions, particularly after its defeat in the 2023 presidential election.
The crisis has seen multiple factions emerge, with recent disputes over the National Secretary position and allegations of party leaders working with the ruling APC further deepening the rift.
George, a former PDP Deputy National Chairman, cautioned that if the situation is not managed properly, the party could become “a rudderless ship”—unable to navigate its course effectively.
He said, “I appeal to everybody as an elder, one of those elected at the very first elective convention of the party in December 1999, this is not the time we will use the party’s structure to throw people under the train. No, I will not agree because when you see the list of the names of some of the people who are now going to do this disciplinary action or that, we have to be careful. They say when you come to equity; you must come with clean hands.
“There are still people in the party, elders that can wade in and resolve this crisis. We have crossed the first hurdle. The beauty is that we still have the responsibility to ensure justice, fairness and equity. I want to plead with them; don’t start dropping the ship. The ship is already in the storm and if we are not careful, we will become a rudderless ship. A rudderless ship will go down.”
George Supports PDP BoT’s Decision To Recognise Ude-Okoye
In a related development, George backed the PDP BoT’s decision to recognise Sunday Ude-Okoye as the authentic National Secretary of the party.
He said that his decision was based on the judgement of the Court of Appeal which affirmed him as the authentic National Secretary of the party.
He said, “The fact that they brought, I am completely on board with that. What do you expect the elders to do? The report was clear that there was no counter Court of Appeal report apart from the one from Okoye.
“So, what do you expect us to do? If Anyanwu decides to go to the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court throws out that decision of the Court of Appeal, we will abide by that.”
