2023: Bode George says PDP gave tickets to rich aspirants

 

A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, Bode George on Wednesday accused some members of the party’s National Working Committee of being the cause of the party’s failure in the 2023 presidential polls.

George while speaking to journalists in Lagos also faulted members of the NWC for handing the party ticket to individuals who had deep pockets.

Citing the case of Lagos, the former PDP Deputy National Chairman said the NWC deviated from the established procedures designed by the party’s founding fathers for conducting primary elections and congresses, stating that it was important to return to these established processes to improve the party’s chances in future elections.

He said, “A typical example is the primaries in Lagos either governorship; they will send people who don’t live here and who have no business here to come and conduct primaries.

“How can somebody from outside know your house more than you by the time they land rather than allowing people to vote, they will be looking for the aspirants and they become their Automated Teller Machine.

“Once they finish, they will run back to the national organising department to affirm the person they supported. But I won’t expand more than that, and that is the major crisis which you see because, if you go to the bottom and do your primaries at the wards and local government levels and create division at that level, how can you fight the outsiders?”

He called for the establishment of a reconciliation committee to address the issues and pave the way forward for the PDP. He stressed the importance of conducting a thorough review of the party’s experiences in each state during the 2023 elections.

He added, “There should be no short approach; sweeping everything under the carpet is a foolish way to do it.
“We must set up a committee that will go around the country, move state by state, and make inquiries about their experiences, what happened to finances, and the political aspect. How were the primaries conducted in each state? Who did what?”

Source: Punch Newspapers