PDP Mending Fences With Its Members

Bode George, a prominent member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has stated that the party is attempting to mend fences with its members, one of whom is Nyesom Wike, the former governor of Rivers State who is currently serving as the minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). 

Wike and a group of then-governors, known as the G-5, had a falling out with the PDP hierarchy prior to last year’s presidential election, and they collaborated to defeat the PDP, arguing that the southern region of Nigeria should have its own representative.

Bode George claims that the PDP is attempting to resolve its issues, despite the fact that many have questioned Wike’s party membership and that others have called for sanctions against him.

“There is a standing committee. They are going to add more members to do a post-mortem analysis,” he said on Thursday’s edition of Channels Television’s Politics Today when asked about Wike attending the party’s national executive council meeting even while serving under the APC.

“We don’t want to start firing because there are one or two people that are still thinking about the past. The party must move on.”

“It is an issue in the party. It should not be resolved in the marketplace,” the PDP chieftain said, insisting “We are going to settle our own matters like a family.”

In the 2023 presidential contest, Bode’s party came in second place, falling short of the incumbent APC. In that exercise, as well as in 2019, former vice president Atiku Abubakar served as its flagbearer. 

Despite resistance to his candidature, particularly from Wike’s team after he secured the ticket for the previous year’s election, there are rumours that Atiku would lead the party in the 2027 general election of Nigerians. But when asked if the former vice president will run again, Bode answered that “time would tell.”

“It [PDP] is not a private enterprise,” he said on the show.