ABUJA — The Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, Mr. Lere Olayinka, has launched a fresh attack on Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, chieftain, Chief Bode George, urging him to stop what he described as conduct unbecoming of an elder statesman and respond to allegations concerning the source of funds used to acquire his Abuja property.
Olayinka, in a statement issued on Thursday in Abuja, said the former Deputy National Chairman of the PDP should “take a rest” and desist from making public comments that, according to him, diminish his standing.
According to Olayinka, George, who served as Military Governor of the old Ondo State in 1988, ought to exhibit the maturity expected of someone of his age and political experience.
“For someone who was Military Governor 38 years ago, some level of decorum and maturity is expected. It is becoming embarrassing that a man who should be acting like an elder statesman is moving from one television station to another attacking people who are young enough to be his children,” he said.
The FCT Minister’s aide also questioned George’s political relevance in Lagos State, arguing that the PDP had failed to make electoral progress under his leadership.
He claimed that the opposition party had not won George’s polling unit since 1999, despite producing governors in other South-West states, including Oyo, Osun, Ogun, Ondo and Ekiti.
Rather than criticising others, Olayinka challenged the PDP stalwart to explain why the party had remained on the political margins in Lagos State for over two decades.
He further accused George of failing to fulfil repeated public promises to leave Nigeria if President Bola Tinubu became President.
Olayinka recalled that between 2015 and 2022, George made several public declarations that he would relocate abroad or renounce his Nigerian citizenship should Tinubu assume office, but had remained in the country more than three years into the administration.
“An elder who wants to be respected should honour his own words. He repeatedly promised to leave Nigeria if Tinubu became President, but he has failed to do so,” he said.
The spokesman also reaffirmed Wike’s allegation that funds from Rivers State were used to acquire an Abuja property linked to George.
According to him, George’s explanation that the property was purchased from a private owner through an agent did not address the central issue raised by the FCT Minister.
“Wike never said the issue was who sold the property or through whom it was purchased. The issue is the source of the money used to acquire it. Chief Bode George should answer that question,” Olayinka stated.
He insisted that Wike stood by his earlier position that George lacked the moral authority to lecture others on corruption until he addressed the allegations levelled against him.
The latest exchange marks another chapter in the prolonged public feud between the FCT Minister and the PDP elder, underscoring continuing tensions within the opposition party ahead of the 2027 general elections.
