By Jamiu Yisa
Chief Bode George, former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has said that the leadership of the party is presently paying dearly for the disobedience of the Ekiti state governor, Ayodele Fayose and two other governors who shunned the advice of the party elders by bringing in Alli Modu Sheriff.
George however urged the PDP factional National Chairman to accept reality, and stop any further act of prolonging the crisis rocking the party.
According to George,”Who called Sheriff? Who invited him? Certainly not all PDP members, especially elders. It was a group of young men in PDP, led by Governor Fayose, and one or two other PDP governors that actually invited him. But we elders in the party advised them against having anything to do with Sheriff, but Fayose and others didn’t listen to us, and we are all paying the price of our governors’ disobedience today because Sheriff, who against our advice they brought to our party has become a big source of headache and embarrassment to PDP members. He has become an albatross.
”That notwithstanding, there is even nothing wrong in inviting Sheriff as he has been claiming, but why did he want to perpetuate himself in office illegally? That means that Sheriff has his own personal ambition, he is just using the invitation as an excuse to execute his own personal agenda.
”Sheriff is my friend, I’ve known him since I was in the military, I have nothing personal against him, but let the truth be told, Sheriff is being driven by personal ambition. There is no way Sheriff can even be the party’s chairman because of the party’s zoning policy. PDP has zoned Presidency to the North, and the party’s chairmanship to the South.
”He’s a stranger in PDP, he is not familiar with PDP rules and regulation, and that’s why he wants to bring the party down. But by the grace of God, PDP will not die, the party will continue to wax stronger.
George said if Fayose and others that brought in Sheriff had listened to the PDP elders, the party would have been saved of what he called ‘Sheriff embarrassment.’
”The lesson in all these is this, especially those of us in the Makarfi’s faction of PDP, if we don’t remain righteous, just, fair and equitable, divine judgment may also come down onus as it is happening to Sheriff’s faction now. It takes a crazy fellow a second to throw a stone in a well and one million professors will not be able to find the stone. PDP is lucky, extremely lucky that the party has not collapsed as a result of this crisis,” he said.