Presidential poll: PDP chieftain, Bode George speaks on retirement from politics, planned exile after Tinubu’s victory
A former Deputy National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Bode George, says his decision to go on exile if Bola Tinubu wins the presidential election has not changed after his victory at the poll last month.
Speaking during a monitored interview on Channels Television on Monday, George said it is his inalienable right to live anywhere he choose to reside in the world.
He said he can relocate to Nigeria’s West African neighbours like Ghana, Cotonou in Benin Republic and Lome in Togo if he isn’t satisfied with the incoming administration of the President-Elect, Bola Tinubu.
The PDP chieftain and longtime rival of Tinubu, a former Lagos State governor, had said he would go on exile if the flag bearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC) won the February 25 presidential poll.
Asked on Monday whether he still nursed the thoughts of going on exile, George said, “I didn’t hide my feelings: I said if this fellow (Tinubu) becomes the President, I will lose my interest politically.
“I have the right as a Nigerian to live anywhere I want. And I am saying it publicly that I am ready to retire from partisan politics. This is my own personally conviction that they don’t have the capacity, the ability to run this nation.
“I am not a young man anymore. If I am not satisfied with the way things are going, I have a right to go and stay anywhere I want to live for the rest of my life and play with my children and grandchildren.”
The PDP chieftain said he is not concerned about himself but bothered about young people. He lamented that President Muhammadu Buhari did not fulfil his promise to leave a legacy of free and fair elections, saying that the electoral umpire did not translate the results of the February 25 poll electronically as promised.
“I haven’t committed any offence that can debar me. I can go to Lome to live. I can go to go Cotonou. I can go to Ghana. I can even go to Iceland. I can go to anywhere I want. With my green passport and my credibility and worthiness, I can live anywhere. I am just bothered about the younger generation,” he said.
