Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, has defended his decision to prevent former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Deputy National Chairman, Chief Bode George, from becoming the party’s National Chairman, saying he has no regret over the decision.
Wike described George as a failed politician who has not secured an electoral victory for the PDP in Lagos State since 1999.
In a statement issued on Saturday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, Wike said George’s political frustration had been worsened by the emergence of Deji Doherty, a figure George does not want to lead the PDP in Lagos State.
“His anger is because we didn’t allow him to be PDP National Chairman and no regret doing so,” Wike said.
According to the minister, George “wanted to be PDP National Chairman, and was carrying on like the position was his birthright. We stopped him because it was the turn of the South-South. Since then, he has not stopped being angry.”
Wike also recalled visiting George at his Maitama residence in Abuja while serving as a sitting governor, in an attempt to reconcile with him following the party’s national convention. He said George’s wife initially attempted to prevent him from entering the residence before former Ondo State governor, Olusegun Mimiko, intervened.
The FCT minister further criticised George’s political record, arguing that despite the influence, privileges and opportunities available to him, he has been unable to secure electoral victories for the PDP in Lagos State.
“We have managed him even though we know that he has no value. But as it is, since he wants to keep dancing naked in the market place of politics, we can’t but allow him,” he said.
Wike maintained that the leadership of a political party should not be based on a person’s name, position or reputation as a founding father, but rather on the ability to win elections. By that standard, he said Bode George is “a complete disaster.”
The minister also referred to electoral results from George’s former polling unit, Unit 001 in Ward E2, Evans Street, Lagos Island, claiming that George has never won the unit for the PDP.
He said that during the 2019 presidential election, the All Progressives Congress (APC) received 84 votes at the polling unit, compared with 40 votes for the PDP. According to Wike, the PDP performed even worse there in 2023, recording just four votes after George had transferred his voter’s card to Eti-Osa.
Wike concluded by saying that since Bode George appeared to have little else occupying his time, he would continue to keep his associates occupied by providing them with reasons to move from one television station to another.
