Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State and Uche Secondus, the newly elected National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stormed Chief Bode George’s Abuja home on Sunday December 10th, 2017 on a peace mission.
Governor Nyesom Wike and Chief Bode George
A source close to Bode George told us that: “Governor Wike and Prince Secondus visited Chief George late on Sunday as part of efforts to reconcile aggrieved parties in the PDP. Prince Secondus asked George not to feel aggrieved as everything was mere politics and they should not lose sight of the most important thing, which is to unseat the All Progressives Congress.”
“Chief George received them warmly and advised them. He criticised Wike for making such disparaging comments about the Yoruba. Wike said he was sorry if anyone felt slighted but he meant no harm.”
“Chief George told him to find a way of assuaging the Yoruba who feel very bad with the way they have been treated. He told Wike that the APC is already exploiting the Yoruba issue and that if it is not addressed properly, it could affect the PDP’s electoral chances in the South-West in 2019.”
“It was the same way the deportation of Igbo by Governor Babatunde Fashola was exploited and caused the APC to lose every Igbo-dominated area in Lagos in 2015. He explained that it was the inability of the PDP to give the South-West a major position that caused them to reject the PDP at the polls in 2015. Wike and Secondus thanked Chief George and said they would find a way of appeasing the South-West.”
For those who don’t know, Governor Wike provoked Bode George when he said on Channels Television that: “The South-West PDP lacked leaders that could head the party. The problem that the PDP has today arose from the South-West.”
“Look at the crisis! Mention one chairman that you will vote today in the South-West that will stabilise the party. Take for example, Tunde Adeniran. If you vote him in, then that will be the beginning of the crisis of the PDP in Ekiti State.”
“This is because he cannot cooperate with the governor. Our experience has always been that if you vote in a chairman from a state that has a (PDP) governor and they don’t work together, then that party will be in trouble in that state.”
“Even when Chief Olusegun Obasanjo was President, the South-West still did not vote for the PDP. It would be unwise to concede the chairmanship position to the South-West in order to woo the zone.”