Bode George, who is an elder stateman of the PDP, talked of the outcome of the June 9 National Assembly election which has been described as the most c

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Bode George talked of the controversy and noted: To me, it shows that our democracy is still evolving. Like the saying goes, rolling stones gather no moss and the way Asiwaju Bola Tinubu plays his politics is very primitive and dictatorial. Nigeria has moved away from the politics of the 1960s. The six geopolitical zones have come to stay. Anybody that disregards this does so at his own peril. I remember that in the 1950s, when Chief Obafemi Awolowo and others went for the constitutional conference, the suggestion of Papa (Awolowo) and the Action Group was that there should be six geopolitical zones. Let there be North-East and the North-West and then the minorities would be in the North-Central; then the South-East, the South-West and then the minorities in the South-South. This was the concept the Peoples Democratic Party followed and it sustained our democracy for 16 years. According to the PDP style, the President, the Vice-President, the Senate President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the National Chairman of the party must reflect these six geopolitical zones. But Bisi Akande and other All Progressives Congress leaders came out to say that they did not believe in zoning. I thought they came from another planet when I heard this. Akande must be naive about the diversity of Nigeria. They brought their own concept to play at the national level and I am happy that they were given a political circumcision.

In any case, what are the ideological differences between our political parties? Do we have a centre-right or centre-left in Nigeria? The basic thing in our politics is that you bring a better standard of living to our people and easy access to education, good public health and good roads. Our democracy has not yet developed to the point of ideological differences. But when you come in with primitive politics and sit down in one room and dictate who will go to the bathroom, who will go to sleep, who can be senator and who can be governor, it is wrong. That is very primitive and I am happy that he has been given a political circumcision. He wanted to bring that nonsense from Lagos to the national level and if he is not careful, because they are all strange bed fellows; they will not last. As a sailor, I know that if you swim against the tide, it will not take long before you drown.

I am happy that all the geopolitical zones have got all the principal offices. North-West got President, South-West got Vice-President, North-Central got Senate President, North-East got Speaker of the House of Representatives, South-South has APC national chairman and the South-East will get the SGF by all indication. Doesn’t that augur well for the unity of this country? You see, Nigeria is not a natural country, it is a forced union by the British and not a union willingly entered into by the people, therefore there is no united culture. In Switzerland, there are three major cultures: The French, the Germans and the Italians and there is no problem. Even during the world wars, Switzerland was not affected because everybody accepted that there is rotational headship. Therefore, zoning is here to stay.

But the Yoruba were not in the scheme of things in President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.

In the last parliament, Tinubu teamed up with the North-West and robbed the Yoruba people of the speakership position. He told his boys in the Action Congress of Nigeria to vote for Aminu Tambuwal and that was how Tambuwal became Speaker. Therefore, in the distribution of the topmost positions across the geopolitical zones, we did not have anything.

Hence, Tinubu is drinking the soup that he prepared and that is what he deserves. The APC is a merger and Tinubu nominated the Vice-President and the national chairman and yet wants to pick the Speaker and the Senate President. Is Nigeria practising a dictatorship or a democracy?

The APC wants to discipline Senate President Bukola Saraki and the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, for going against the will of the party. Will the PDP woo them or accept them if they defect?

Yes, of course. A political party is like a police station, we never shut our doors. If you go to a police station at midnight, you will find a policeman on duty. Any political party that closes its doors to politicians is a cult, not a political party. We will open our doors to anybody that wants to join as long as they live according to the law and the constitution of the party. When we were screaming about the Tambuwal issue, Tinubu was rejoicing, he thought he was smart. He forgot the saying that what you do today will have consequences tomorrow. Must they always have their way? Haven’t they been manipulating the system all this while? Tinubu should not seek to make himself too powerful; if not, the APC will die the moment he dies. The party chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, is a seasoned economist and politician and has allowed himself to become Tinubu’s boy and follower. Tinubu is surrounded by those who cannot tell him the truth, including Akande. The South-West needs people like Chief Awolowo who ensured that the Yoruba remained ahead during his time and did not focus on enriching himself.

But Tinubu was able to bring the Yoruba to the centre of national politics which Awolowo failed to do.

Tinubu did that for his selfish interest but he has now been given political circumcision. The PDP brought (Chief Olusegun) Obasanjo, a Yoruba man, to the centre and then brought the Yoruba to the mainstream again in 2003 when we won all the states in the South-West except Lagos. I was Vice Chairman (South-West PDP) at the time. Any house that is built on sand cannot last. They haven’t been in power for up to a month and you can see what is happening.

With the PDP in a vantage position in the National Assembly by getting the Deputy President position, does it mean the party is already on its path to victory in 2019?

I don’t want to speculate but I believe that due to President Buhari’s age, he is not likely to stand for re-election in 2019. I don’t know but I don’t think he will try it because he will be about 76 by then. Even former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar will be a bit too old to contest in 2019 because he is 68 years old now. Thus, the younger generation of northerners like former Kano State Governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, and former Katsina State Governor, Ibrahim Shema, as well as a few others may come forward. Most of them were PDP governors but defected to the APC, except Shema who still remain a PDP member. Therefore, the moment the position of national chairman of our party is zoned away from the North, we will look for a strong politician that will be able to manage the resources of the nation. Once we create that atmosphere, once the next contestants present themselves, I believe that our next presidential candidate will come from the North.

But if Buhari spends four years and PDP’s northern candidate wins in 2019, doesn’t it mean that the North could possibly be in power till 2027?

Let us see how things will work out. Buhari is from the North-West. Our candidate could come from the North-East. When we get to that bridge, we will cross it. The PDP believes in fairness because anything you do may affect the South. That was how the South-South was also short-changed through the APC. When President Umaru Yar’Adua died, some northerners suggested that Dr. Goodluck Jonathan should complete Yar’Adua’s two years and step down so that he could return, and the South-South could have its eight years later.

Let us leave 2019 till later. Politics is about discussions and negotiations. The better debater always wins. That is why it is called politics, not ‘politricks’. ‘Politricks’ is Tinubu’s style. They don’t debate, they just impose.

When the election for the Senate President took place, the PDP had about 49 senators in the chamber while the APC had about eight. Why didn’t the PDP gun for the position of Senate President?

It is not good to get too greedy. We respect democracy a lot in the PDP. We helped to ensure democracy for 16 years through zoning. The PDP would have lost out if we tried to gun for the senate presidency. Remember that APC still has the larger number of senators. Thus, we decided to give it to Saraki, who we trust because he is our former member. Also, what we did ensured balance such that Tinubu’s boys would never have the upper hand. What happened was good for our democracy. 

Bode George has been the PDP’s main elder in the south west and is expected to lead the restoration of the party in the country.