A former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Bode George has said he has no interest whatsoever in becoming the next national chairman of the party.
He proceeded to affirm the unpopular opinion that the party’s national chairmanship should be zoned to the South West as the region remains the only one that has not held the position since 1999.
The party chieftain said this while addressing newsmen shortly after he arrived into the country from his overseas trip.
He also urged the National Chairman of the party, Senator Ali Modu-Sheriff to make do his promise and hand over to an elected Chairman at the National Convention which is scheduled for May 21.
He however added that although he nursed no ambition for the party’s national chairmanship, his friends, colleagues and elders have promised to push him for the position if its ever zoned to the South West.
He said: “I have no plan, no ambition, slide or straightforward
looking for it”
He added that: “you know we are in opposition, there is no Villa any more, no president from our party. Therefore management of the party must be different, it has to be serious strategic thinking, intellectually bias to reasoning and discourse and network with the people for you to take decision.
“On the issue of national chairmanship, based on the spirit of equity and fairness which is the foundation and principle upon which our party was build by our founding fathers, the South West deserves the national chairmanship now. This is the right and proper thing which must be done. The South West is a significant zone for the Nigeria federation which cannot and must not be treated with levity.”
Reacting to the delegation that went to the party’s National Executive Committee, NEC, that the South West was not interested in the chairmanship position, he said: “My reaction is that when we started the journey to rebuild the PDP in the South West, none of those people was a member of the party. None of them. Some of them along the line, they jumped on board the ship.”
He added that: “the constitution, the foundation , the wherewithal which attracted them to join the party, they had no understanding. How can anybody in a family be washing his dirty linen in the market? It is like one is bringing curse home. Let them come and tell Yoruba people that they don’t want something good for them and see what would happen.”
“They were even saying that the chairmanship should remain in the north. Are they really Oodua sons?”
He continued to say: “Let the zoning committee do its work, the report must be based on just, equity and once the committee submit its report, it is not a mushroom organisation, it will be discussed at the national caucus, at the BOT and then it will go to the NEC of the party for final approval and disapproval”