2023: PDP Chieftain Wants Presidential Primary Moved to Lagos, Gives Reason
- PDP stalwart, Chief Olabode George has warned the party's national working committee (NWC) of the dangers of holding its presidential primary in Abuja
- George appealed to the NWC to move the presidential primaries to Lagos state, stating that the Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS) will be a perfect fit
- The former deputy chairman of the party stated that it will unwise to stage the party primaries in the same location as their rival APC
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Lagos, Ikoyi - The national working committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been urged to stage the party’s presidential primary in Lagos rather than the already scheduled Abuja venue, NAN reported.
This call was made by PDP stalwart, Chief Olabode George during the party’s stakeholders’ meeting in Ikoyi on Monday, May 16.
Source: Facebook
According to the PDP chieftain, the reason for his appeal is to avoid a possible clash with their arch-rival, the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) who will also be staging their primaries in Abuja, Legit.ng gathered.
He said:
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“Two rams do not drink from the same pot. I want to appeal publicly, move our convention away from Abuja and come to the city of Lagos. Why do we want to use the same location with the other political party?”
The former PDP deputy chairman while issuing his opinion on the location of the party primaries stated that the Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS) would be a perfect arena to host the party primary.
He appealed to the NWC to heed his candid advice as anything done contrary might be consequential to the success of the party’s primaries.
He said:
“We must come to where we will showcase the oneness, indivisibility, and love that we have among ourselves, and that is the essence of this convention.
“I am begging them to take a cursory and much deeper look and ensure that we do what will not be injurious to the mind of members and the members of the public.”
Bode George while reiterating his stance on the venue for the primaries urged leaders to guard against religious and ethnic clashes, and said that Nigerians should be prayerful.
He said:
“We need to be very careful as a country. We need to be extremely prayerful. We have entered the journey into 2023. The situations generally are not heartwarming.
“I want to plead, whether you are a Christian or Muslim or a traditional worshipper, let us spend this particular week to fast and plead with God Almighty that the devil that has come into our nation will be expunged.
“We must be prayerful, we are entering the most dangerous season.”
2023: Bode George speaks on failed zoning policy
Meanwhile, the PDP stalwart who has over the years not hidden his stance on the policy of zoning in the party reflected on the party’s failure to implement it for the forthcoming elections.
He said:
“On zoning and rotation, George said the first paragraph of the memo discussed at a meeting in Abuja recently, provided that zoning and rotation remained “absolutely sacrosanct and cultural-political spinal cord of our party”.
According to Chief George, the leadership of the party had already beseeched aggrieved members to give room for all who purchased the N40million presidential forms to join the open contest.
It will be recalled that originally, the PDP was supposed to zone its presidency to the southern party of the country as the north had already enjoyed the same privilege in the previous election in 2019.
However, in the build-up to this year’s PDP presidential primaries, candidates from the north like Atiku Abubakar, Bukola Saraki, Aminu Tambuwal, and Bala Muhammed all purchased the presidential forms to contest, a decision that did not sit right with their counterparts in the south.
2023: Kalu spills hard truth for APC, PDP over Kwankwaso's northern influence
In another development, former presidential aspirant under the platform of the APC has pointed out the presidential candidate of the NNPP, Rabiu Kwankwaso as a major threat to APC and PDP.
Kalu said to match the influence and political foundation of Rabiu Kwankwaso in the north, the APC will have to field a presidential candidate from the same region.
The Senate chief whip disclosed that Kwankwaso is very much like a president waiting in the corner.
9 APC presidential aspirants set to withdraw from race
Meanwhile, Kalu had said that nine presidential aspirants from the APC were set to withdraw from the race.
The former governor of Abia state said the aspirants whose names he did not mention would back Senate President Ahmad Lawan's presidential bid after withdrawing.
Kalu had earlier withdrawn from the presidential race and backed Lawan to succeed President Buhari in 2023.
Source: Legit.ng
