09042018 - AS APC'S NEC MEETS TODAY: Oyegun, Tinubu's ‘soldiers’ head for showdown

42— VANGUARD, MONDAY, APRIL 9, 2018
Why Tinubu should
fear day of
reckoning
— BODE GEORGE
•Explains why PDP
apologised to Nigerians
Chief Olabode Ibiyinka George is a former
Deputy National Chairman of the People's Democratic
Party, PDP.
In this interview, George expressed reservations over
the formation of a Third Force saying he does not believe
in the movement. He also bared his mind on burning
national issues and issues affecting the PDP. Excerpts:
By Dapo Akinrefon, Deputy
Regional Editor, South-West
What informed the decision of
your party, PDP, to apologise to Nigerians
in Abuja recently?
After the 2015 election which we
lost, we first of all went into
a spin, which is normal. We
had predicted that we would rule
Nigeria for 60 years, but suddenly,
after 16 years in power, we were sent
packing. So, we did an assessment of
what happened. Where did we go
wrong? Do we continue to pretend to
ourselves that we were doing
everything right? To me, what we did
at the conference was the civilised way
of approach to go back to power, not
in arrogance. We accepted that there
had been a problem of imposition, lack
of respect for the party’s constitution,
lack of respect for the feelings of the
other person, manipulation and all
those ills that are part of APC especially
with Tinubu in Lagos State.
Henry Ajomale had been chairman of
APC since 1999 - from the days of AD
to AC, to ACN and now APC. Perpetual
state chairman! Where has the congress
ever been done? I have not seen
any congress where Ajomale emerged.
He must be a beautiful man that the
party believes must be their perpetual
chairman and he is not tired yet.
You see, these are ills that are plaguing
Third World countries. I am sure
that their constitution must have a constitutional
limit. Two terms, end of the
show. But in Tinubu’s APC, theirs is
perpetual. The man cannot make a
mistake and is higher than human
beings. You see the fallacy. I think
Tinubu got carried away and I am
giving him a bell of caution. We in
PDP said the same thing years back.
Nigerians are no fools. The state of
the affairs of this country today calls
for Nigerians to dispassionately look
at the two parties.
When I saw our national chairman,
Uche Secondus talking, I said
whoever advised them to approach
these problems we had like this is
dead serious.
The Secondus I saw was humble,
civil and he was thinking of the future.
We knew where we were coming
from. We were in power and only those
who are humble will God continue to
bless. For me, that was the catch and
I said to him that you have talked the
talk, let us go back and walk the walk.
Let us go back to Nigerians and tell
them we are ready to make amends
for these problems that they listed
which made them vote us out.
God grants power, He gives to those
He wants and those He doesn’t want,
He takes from them. But I think it was
a lesson for our party. We are going to
regroup. We are staying back to repair
that house that is leaking. I wish
Tinubu best of luck on his 10th-year
Colloquium but if that is the message
that will come out from there, I think
that is not a serious-minded talk.
Today is Tinubu’s day of glory; let him
be careful that there is an Almighty
Being that gives and takes. Don’t be
so selflessly impudent and forget that
there is a day of reckoning.
Former governor of Lagos State,
Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, at his 10th
annual Colloquium said Nigerians
should not accept the apology
offered by your party. He also said
PDP will never come back to power.
What is your take on that?
First of all, let me ask Tinubu, is he
God? Or has he gotten the powers of
God that he can see the future? I think
that is a rubbish statement to make as
a leader. If that is what he thinks, I
think it is wishful thinking. He will
soon realise that everything that has
a beginning has an end, and that is
the power of the Almighty, the One
who was, who is and will forever be.
There is no human being that lives
perpetually. There are three things in
life you don’t control - the day you
were born, your nationality (whether
you are Chinese, African or American)
and the day you will exit. That shows
you there is a Being and power greater
than us.
So, when people get up and make
such statements that Tinubu made,
that PDP will never come back to
power, that is arrogance being
exhibited. Let me advise him that we
used to say that PDP will rule this
country for 60 years. Then we sat back,
put everything on auto-pilot and went
to sleep. Alas, we found ourselves on
the deck and that was why in humility,
during the last conference held by the
party in Abuja, the delivery, the
content and performance was the
zenith of humility.
The APC also claimed that it will
We knew where we
were coming from. We
were in power and only
those who are humble
will God continue to
bless. For me, that
was the catch and I said
to him that you have
talked the talk, let us go
back and walk the walk
continue to talk about corruption
under the PDP government because
your party looted the nation’s
treasury in the last 16 years and
battered the economy which APC is
now recovering. What is your perspective
on that?
Ask any Nigerian today; are you
better off now than when PDP was in
government? That is the measure, the
yardstick to know the difference
between both parties. What I would
have expected him to do is to close
the doors and ask APC members
serious questions about the state of the
nation under their leadership. I know
President Muhammadu Buhari was
from my professional calling. That is
what we do in the military. We do an
in-depth analysis of where we are,
where are we coming from and where
do we want to go. At times, I look at
the APC and ask, so they have never
made any mistake? They are saying
PDP is corrupt and they will continue
to talk about the corruption.
There will be a day of reckoning, no
matter how long. People will ask
questions. So for me, that is not a
proper approach. By the grace of God
Almighty and the power of Nigerians,
PDP will be ready before the end of
2018.
Is your party threatened by the
emergence of SDP which has been
branded as the Third Force
movement, especially given the fact
that some key members of your party
have already joined?
I wish them the best of luck; fair
winds as they sail into the unknown
waters. No matter how fast you can
run, if you have a 100 meters race,
somebody has gone about 50 meters
and you are at the starting block, can
you catch him?
In an election year, you are just starting
a political party that has no track
record. And if you look at it, it is the
same people that are rushing down
there. Those who have been
landlords, they now say their house
is leaking and they went to become
tenant in another man’s house. If your
house is leaking, the rational thing to
do is stay back there and repair it,
remodel it. If they are looking for
utopia, they can never get it. They can
never achieve it. That is why I said it
is civil for you to accept your failings
because God said you will run into
tribulations and trials in the road of
your life. It can never be always
straight without bumps and round-
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