…‘I Have No Regret Stopping Him’
(FCT), Nyesom Wike, has fired back at former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Bode George, accusing him of remaining bitter over his failed bid to become the party’s National Chairman.
Wike declared that he had no regret frustrating George’s ambition, insisting that the PDP chairmanship was not his birthright and that the position had to go to the South-South at the time.
The minister spoke in a statement issued yesterday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka.
According to Wike, George’s persistent attacks against him were simply a product of his disappointment over losing the chairmanship race.
“His anger is because we didn’t allow him to be PDP National Chairman and there is no regret doing so,” Wike said.
He alleged that George behaved as though the national chairmanship was his personal entitlement.
“He wanted to be PDP National Chairman and was carrying on like the position was his birthright. We stopped him because it was the turn of the South-South. Since then, he has not stopped being angry,” he said.
Wike also recalled how, as a sitting governor, he visited George’s residence in Maitama, Abuja, after the party’s national convention in an attempt to calm tensions.
He alleged that George’s wife attempted to send him out of the house, but that the intervention of former Ondo State Governor, Olusegun Mimiko, prevented the situation from escalating.
The FCT minister, who described George as a “failed politician”, said the former PDP chieftain had failed to deliver electoral victories for the party in Lagos State despite the influence and privileges he had enjoyed over the years.
Wike argued that political leadership should be measured by the ability to win elections and deliver results, rather than by titles, names or claims of being a founding member.
“Leadership of a political party is not by name, title or being a founding father. It is about what you are able to bring to the table in terms of winning elections, and in this regard, Bode George is a complete disaster,” he said.
To buttress his claim, Wike cited election results from George’s former polling unit in Lagos Island.
“Even his Unit 001 in Ward E2, Evans Street, Lagos Island, he has never won for the PDP. In the 2019 presidential election, APC had 84 votes while PDP had 40. In the 2023 elections, he transferred his voter’s card to Eti Osa, PDP had four votes in his polling unit,” he said.
Wike also claimed that George’s political frustration had been worsened by the emergence of Deji Doherty, whom he said the former PDP leader did not want to head the party in Lagos State.
The minister said he had tolerated George’s criticisms despite what he described as his lack of electoral value, but warned that he would continue to respond whenever the former party chieftain attacked him.
“We have managed him even though we know that he has no value. But as it is, since he wants to keep dancing naked in the marketplace of politics, we can’t but allow him,” Wike said.
He added sarcastically that George’s frequent television appearances may be because he had little else occupying his time.
“Since it appeared that he is not busy, he will continue to make his likes busy by creating reason for them to jump from one television station to the other,” he said.
