PDP convention: Candidates should see exercise as celebration, not war ― Olabode George

PDP convention: Candidates should see exercise as celebration, not war ― Olabode George

• Wants zoning arrangements engrained in party Constitution

Ahead of the National Convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) holding in Abuja on Saturday, former Deputy National Chairman of the party, Chief Olabode George, has called on candidates for vying vacant seats to see the exercise as a celebration and not a do or die affair.

George, a former chairmanship aspirant of the leading opposition party, gave this counsel while speaking with newsmen in Lagos, saying those, who are contesting for available seats, where consensus candidates had not yet emerged, should do this if they loved the party, and didn’t want it to consume in crisis.

“You know the convention is a carnival, it is a celebration for the party. In most of the positions now being allocated and zoned, many people have won automatic slots because there are no competitors.

“The few areas that there are friction, we are asking them please calm down. I did the same, when I contested for the chairmanship seat, I know how much money I spent. We went all over this country, it was like a presidential campaign. And you saw my campaign headquarters in Abuja.

“But a day before I saw the shenanigans going on. If you love this party, you don’t want crisis, it should not be a matter of life and death. I knew what my colleagues were telling me, but I said no, for me it is not a matter of life and death. I am a general, if you cross the red line, whatever point you find yourself, that is your headache. You must be bold enough to say time out,” he said.

Speaking further, George, who is also the Atona Oodua, said the zoning arrangements, which ensured that every zone gets one of the six key offices in the country, including the president, vice president, Senate President, Speaker, House of Representatives, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), chairmanship of the party, must now be written into PDP Constitution.

The party chieftain, while recalling that PDP founding fathers adopted the zoning arrangements “to avoid the crisis we had in the 60s, where the majority will always have their way, minorities will only be seen and be told to shut up,” wondered how some people came together, sat down “and said they zoned chairman to the North and said presidency can now come from anywhere.”

According to him, taking such step amounted to toy with the future of the country and the citizens, declaring that it was better to “call a spade a spade,” even as he noted that in advanced countries, such as Switzerland, power is also rotated as it was not new in the world.

“I have said one thing before, the founding fathers, and I will struggle as part of my last contribution in this party before I head out. The oral history should now be written, the culture of the party, the zoning system must now be there in writing and not everybody translating it to soothe their purpose.

“Those who sat and said they zoned chairmanship to the North and said presidency can now come from anywhere, how? Why are you thinking you are half smart? It is our future you are toying around with. Call a spade a spade when you are inside that house discussing your party, no half measures.

“The way the founding fathers set it out was to avoid the crisis we had in the 60s, where the majority will always have their way, minorities will only be seen and be told to shut up. That led to the crisis of the first coup.

“But now when they now congregated led by Dr Alex Ekwueme, he brought this idea, it is not new in the world. That is what happens in Switzerland, where you have the Germans, French and the Italians, they also rotate,” George said.

“If you say everybody can contest presidency, what are you trying to do? Throwing the whole party under the bus? he queried.