Politics

Nigerians will regret if Tinubu becomes President, says Bode George

Published

3 years ago

January 15, 2022 1:52 pm

BodexNG

Former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Bode George and one-time military governor of Ondo State in this interview, speaks on the Presidential ambition of former Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu in the 2023 general elections and how the PDP is preparing to outwit the All Progressives Congress, APC, during the polls.

What do you think now that the presidential race for the 2023 election is gaining momentum?

I want to clear one area of discussion, there is nothing personal I have against (Ahmed Bola) Tinubu throwing his hat into the ring, but what I am saying (and it is not a dog fight), that we cannot continue to drift. This is a matter of life and death for our country, we cannot continue to drift. Yes, he (Tinubu) has a right to contest legitimately and he has declared but Nigerians must be very careful.

The President has agreed to electronic transmission of results but the other arm, direct primaries, which seeks to remove godfathers’ control in political parties, is still not part of the guideline. Whatever it takes, whatever we will need to make democracy succeed, we must do.

So, I disagree with the APC on indirect primaries because I support direct primaries. We have done it in the past before, which is like Option A4.

Now, having said that, I want to plead with Nigerians to be conscious because Nigeria is in a state of hopelessness and helplessness.

The most annoying part is what he (Tinubu) said that he had been a kingmaker all his life and now, he wants to be king.

Let me remind him (Tinubu) because he is a Yoruba man. In my part of the world, kingmakers are called afobaje. When you are a kingmaker, you do not throw yourself in the ring and say you want to be king.

So, by saying publicly that he is a kingmaker and now he wants to be king, it is a fallacy. As Nigerians, we must challenge and x-ray anyone who throws his hat in the ring because when you come out to campaign, you tell people to trust you with the resources of the country for the betterment of the people.

And so, if you look at his (Tinubu’s) past and all he has done, is he worth throwing tantrums all over the place? It is an insult to us.

And my party will be ready, it will not be a dog fight, we will centre ourselves on justice, fairness and equity. We must not shy from telling the truth to power.

What exactly is the cause of your hostility towards Tinubu? Is it a personal issue?

There is absolutely nothing personal. This is my country. At 77, why will I not be able to tell truth to power? I have some facts about this character.

He ran my state (Lagos) since 1999, finished eight years of absolute nonsense. So, there is nothing personal but to be able to speak truth to power, I owe it to my creator and I owe it to the future generations of this country. I come from a politically potent family. My late granduncle was the late Herbert Macaulay, the first Nigerian politician and he was in the throes of trying to unite both the north and south when he died.

So, we must continue that fight, our country must come out from the doldrums of filth and have people with confidence and character that are salable anywhere in the world and people loyal to this country. That is all.

But if he reaches out to you to support his aspiration, will you support him?

How? I won’t support him. I am talking as a senior citizen in this country. I have nothing personal, this man (Tinubu) does not have what it takes to manage this country. If he does Nigerians will regret it.

Who is he? In his character, in his name, or educational qualification. What I am telling him is what I know. If Nigerians are dumb enough not to see that and they choose that he is the one they want to put forward as president, I wish them the best of luck. I won’t be part of it here, because he will take the country to the gutters.

Will you go on exile if he emerges as President of Nigeria?

I will move away from Nigeria, I’ll leave because he will be your representative in the international plain. Which investment will he bring here? I am not talking because I have any hatred for him. This is not the kind of person we can hand over this massive country to manage. He will be the greatest joke on the international plane. We should bother who should lead us.

Those supporting him are those who have benefited from his largess.

Some people say that your party had the chance to change Nigeria but didn’t do it, that your party is complicit.

Is there any organization, anywhere in the world, that will not have discussions, disagreements? We can disagree but we must not be disagreeable and in my local parlance in my part of the world, we tell people that all of us cannot sleep and face the same direction.

There will be opinions, there will be differences but the quality of management is how you rise above personal interests.

I want to assure Nigerians that in the PDP, we have a culture, we have norms and methodology by which we organize ourselves. Of course, everybody is still throwing tantrums but the final zoning will come up.

Politics

Aiyedatiwa takes commanding lead in Ondo guber poll after winning 15 of 18 LGAs

Published

15 hours ago

November 17, 2024 7:29 am

BodexNG

Lucky Aiyedatiwa, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, is well ahead of his compatriots in the Ondo governorship election.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) commenced the announcement of the results at midnight on Saturday.

So far, results from 15 local government areas (LGAs) have been announced, with three outstanding.

Aiyedatiwa has polled 268,144 votes so far, while Agboola Ajayi of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has secured 79,125 votes and Abbas Mimiko of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) has won 2,365.

The APC candidate, who is the incumbent governor, has won in all the 15 LGAs, including the strongholds of his challengers.

Results from Ilaje, Ese-Odo and Odigbo LGAs are still being expected at the collation centre.

The collation exercise was adjourned till 12pm by the INEC returning officer for the election.

Meanwhile, on the INEC result viewing portal, 99 percent of the governorship election results have been uploaded.

The election, which took place on Saturday, was largely peaceful and devoid of violence in most parts of the state.

However, journalists and civil society organisations observed several cases of vote trading.

“This situation has continued unabatedly and heightened in this election. It is worrying that, despite the high presence of security personnel at the polling units, vote trading went on openly unchecked during the voting hours,” the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room said in its preliminary assessment.

Politics

DSS operatives arrest man with bags of cash during Ondo guber

Published

1 day ago

November 16, 2024 2:11 pm

BodexNG

Personnel of the Department of State Services (DSS) have apprehended a suspected vote buyer in the ongoing Ondo governorship election.

The man was nabbed on election day at ward 4, polling unit 007, outside St Stephen’s Primary School, Akure.

Television footage showed the operatives and passers-by bellowing on the man to open the boot of his Toyota Camry car. Once he did, two ‘Ghana-must-go’ bags were seen sitting pretty.

The bags were not opened before the cameras as a mob encircled.

The DSS operatives then shoved the man into a white bus from where he was spirited away.

Vote-buying has become commonplace in Nigeria’s elections. Civil society organisations continue to bemoan the trend where agents of political parties carry cash to polling units to induce voters to cast their ballots a certain way.

Politics

Outrage as Betty Akeredolu calls Nigeria a zoo

Published

3 days ago

November 15, 2024 9:10 am

BodexNG

Betty Akeredolu, widow of the late Rotimi Akeredolu, former governor of Ondo, has been criticised for comparing the US presidential election to Nigeria’s 2023 general election.

In a post on X on Wednesday, Betty juxtaposed the period it took to count and announce winners in both polls.

She has also been berated for calling Nigeria a zoo while responding to critics of her posts on the elections.

“When dishonesty is prioritised, simple things become difficult,” she said of Nigeria’s election.

“2023 Nigerian Presidential Election: Total Votes Cast: 25 million, Counting Duration: 5 days. 2024 U.S Presidential Election: Total Votes Cast: 155 million. Counting Duration: Approx. 10 hours.”

In another post, she said, “I made an honest but harmless observation on Nigerian and US presidential elections. Twitter is now on fire. Truth hurts and hurts with tribal colouration”.

“If the 2023 election presidential benefitted you as an individual or group, was that the best Nigeria could offer? Alas, they turned it into a tribal war of words. Nigeria is irredeemable! So sad,” she added.

“Very bitter indeed! Who will rescue Nigeria? What a zoo country!”

One Adegoke Adebisi said counting of votes continues in the US despite the announcement of Donald Trump as president-elect.

“This is not factual. The election was determined in 10 hours but counting continued till Friday, but results were posted live,” Adebisi said in response to Betty’s post.

“Grandma doesn’t even know what electoral college is, she thinks they count each ballot in the US election to declare Trump. You don’t even have the moral justification to criticise a system ur husband benefited from,” another post reads.

Here are a few more posts.

https://twitter.com/drdebodun/status/1856744000608236008?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1856744000608236008%7Ctwgr%5E610290c57da8066b2fca89158d8fe9ca93d32190%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thecable.ng%2Fsame-country-that-made-you-outrage-as-betty-akeredolu-calls-nigeria-a-zoo%2F

https://twitter.com/Montero1016/status/1856742131454431616?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1856742131454431616%7Ctwgr%5E610290c57da8066b2fca89158d8fe9ca93d32190%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thecable.ng%2Fsame-country-that-made-you-outrage-as-betty-akeredolu-calls-nigeria-a-zoo%2F

https://twitter.com/Olalekanakogun/status/1856732313867989117?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1856732313867989117%7Ctwgr%5E610290c57da8066b2fca89158d8fe9ca93d32190%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thecable.ng%2Fsame-country-that-made-you-outrage-as-betty-akeredolu-calls-nigeria-a-zoo%2F

https://twitter.com/bigmorsh/status/1856955340027265067?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1856955340027265067%7Ctwgr%5E610290c57da8066b2fca89158d8fe9ca93d32190%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thecable.ng%2Fsame-country-that-made-you-outrage-as-betty-akeredolu-calls-nigeria-a-zoo%2F

https://twitter.com/AndinoAsuquo/status/1857236820884378041?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1857236820884378041%7Ctwgr%5E610290c57da8066b2fca89158d8fe9ca93d32190%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thecable.ng%2Fsame-country-that-made-you-outrage-as-betty-akeredolu-calls-nigeria-a-zoo%2F

https://twitter.com/Yakbel/status/1856982179915468879?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1856982179915468879%7Ctwgr%5E610290c57da8066b2fca89158d8fe9ca93d32190%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thecable.ng%2Fsame-country-that-made-you-outrage-as-betty-akeredolu-calls-nigeria-a-zoo%2F

https://twitter.com/xybox/status/1856754083534712983?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1856754083534712983%7Ctwgr%5E610290c57da8066b2fca89158d8fe9ca93d32190%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thecable.ng%2Fsame-country-that-made-you-outrage-as-betty-akeredolu-calls-nigeria-a-zoo%2F

https://twitter.com/bolagy/status/1856749039435296911?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1856749039435296911%7Ctwgr%5E610290c57da8066b2fca89158d8fe9ca93d32190%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thecable.ng%2Fsame-country-that-made-you-outrage-as-betty-akeredolu-calls-nigeria-a-zoo%2F

https://twitter.com/tru_th_finder/status/1856751774981292493?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1856751774981292493%7Ctwgr%5E610290c57da8066b2fca89158d8fe9ca93d32190%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thecable.ng%2Fsame-country-that-made-you-outrage-as-betty-akeredolu-calls-nigeria-a-zoo%2F

https://twitter.com/TemmyAjayi1/status/1856999762458812578?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1856999762458812578%7Ctwgr%5E610290c57da8066b2fca89158d8fe9ca93d32190%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thecable.ng%2Fsame-country-that-made-you-outrage-as-betty-akeredolu-calls-nigeria-a-zoo%2F

https://twitter.com/MisterAdigun/status/1856978908266090986?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1856978908266090986%7Ctwgr%5E610290c57da8066b2fca89158d8fe9ca93d32190%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thecable.ng%2Fsame-country-that-made-you-outrage-as-betty-akeredolu-calls-nigeria-a-zoo%2F

Bodex F. Hungbo, SPMIIM is a multiple award-winning Nigerian Digital Media Practitioner, Digital Strategist, PR consultant, Brand and Event Expert, Tv Presenter, Tier-A Blogger/Influencer, and a top cobbler in Nigeria.

She has widespread experiences across different professions and skills, which includes experiences in; Marketing, Media, Broadcasting, Brand and Event Management, Administration and Management with prior stints at MTN, NAPIMS-NNPC, GLOBAL FLEET OIL AND GAS, LTV, Silverbird and a host of others