PDP crisis can consume Nigeria, Bode George warns

[SunNews]

By RAZAQ BAMIDELE

Former National Deputy Chairman (South), of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode George has raised the alarm that if the crisis rocking the ruling party is not urgently resolved, it could lead to the collapse of the country.

Speaking with newsmen in his Lagos residence yesterday, George said PDP being the first and the only national party in the country, was carrying enormous national burden that must not be allowed to explode warning that "if it explodes, Nigeria would be worse for it."

Against this backdrop, the concerned PDP chieftain challenged the founding fathers of the party to strive to resolve the crisis before its consequences consume the country.

According to him, "the Emperor should not go to sleep while Rome is burning. The quality of good managers is ability to resolve problem when it arises."

While admitting that "the furnace is too hot for comfort," George tasked the leadership of the PDP to rise above the crest of the crisis so that the house will not collapse, adding that "at the end of it all, it will be no victor no vanquished."

He attributed the crisis in the polity to "the tender age of our democracy which is in its teen," asking rhetorically, "do you consider a teenager (14 years old) to behave like an adult?"

He therefore appealed for calm because according to him, "grandstanding doesn't work in politics," saying "a tree never makes a forest."

He stressed that the consequence of the crisis on the survival of the nation is the reason for his alarm. His words "That is my fear. That is why I am bothered. Why would I not be bothered? Never in the history of this country that we have had such a broad based national party.

"The concept of PDP was to help democracy grow and develop. And when the concept is being threatened, some of us the founding fathers should be concerned."

While expressing the belief that the early intervention of the founding fathers of the party will salvage the situation, George said "We have carried a lot of heavy load on our head. But there is no cause for alarm. We had worse crisis in the past and we overcame it. This one is not also insurmountable because it is not fundamental.

"So, that is why I am appealing to all of us in the party to be more committed not only to the party but for the sake of Nigeria. This is the only country we have and so must join hands to prevent it from collapsing."

On 2014 and 2015 elections in the South-west, George, who was a former military governor of old Ondo State expressed optimism that "PDP would carry the day," pointing out that "Yoruba people are highly sophisticated politically to know where shoes are pinching them and so would kick out the deceitful government of the Action Congress of Nigeria."

Via: Sun News Online