Tinubu has begged me —Bode George

Bode George

Former Deputy National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode George, in an interview with newsmen, speaks on his reconciliation with Bola Tinubu amongst other issues.

We learnt that President Goodluck Jonathan has advised the PDP leadership to choose a governorship candidate that will be acceptable to the public and even the opposition in Lagos. As a leader of the party in the state. You are said to have a preferred candidate for the position of governor?

The issue at stake is of importance to the future because it is about those who will manage the resources of the state to the benefit of the people. It is very apt and I am happy that you are here to ask such question. I will answer it exactly the way the president answered his own when he came to visit us in Lagos. I think it was Senator Bucknor-Akerele who asked the same pertinent question. She said to the president: ‘Mr President, I am told that you have a preferred candidate.’ President Jonathan said, ‘no, I don’t have any preferred candidate. But everywhere I went, I heard one name, to my left, right, centre and even back.’  He also said that some of his friends outside were mentioning the same name. 

The president said he didn’t have any preferred candidate, but if there is one name that is reverberating all over the place, including the other side, that kind of person will also be his own preferred candidate. 

Lagos is the economic nerve centre of Nigeria and that of West Africa. So, who governs Lagos should not just be the business of the Lagosians alone, it has to be the business of the whole nation. All eyes are on Lagos.

We learnt that you are backing Mr Jimi Agbaje and that Obanikoro said he has the support of the president. It seems we are having two horse races. 

As I said, this is the season of rumours; they can flex muscles. That Obanikoro resigned because the president endorsed him, is the greatest lie.

I have defined the type of candidate that we should have. That person should be a man with sound pedigree, someone you can trace his lineage, and with sound education, not Toronto or Chicago; a man who has shown semblance of top management level capability, who is respectable, responsible and acceptable and manageable; and also marketable to all the three tiers of existence- top executives, big guys, the medium level and low-level people. 

These are the parameters we will adopt to put everybody on the same scale.

When asked about zoning its governorship to a particular area in the state and the clamour for a Chrsitian governor, he delved into his current relationship with Tinubu....

Tinubu is my friend now; we don’t quarrel again. He has apologised to me publicly at Adamasingba in Ibadan during the burial of Azeez Arisekola Alao. He said he was sorry and I said it was all over. But I thank God I didn’t die in prison.

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