Politics
Leave PDP, Bode George Tells Atiku, Wike
Former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode George, has urged Chief Nyesom Wike and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to leave the party.
In a statement on Wednesday, Chief George said he wondered why the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and the country’s former Vice President should be hobnobbing with opposition elements and still claim to be part of the PDP structure, saying: “What exactly is going on? Anybody who is tired of PDP should leave and join another party. Enough of this embarrassment. As a founding elder of this party, I will not watch while some people openly disrespect the party”.
Chief George also questioned Alhaji Abubakar’s recent visit to former President Muhammadu Buhari in Kaduna, stating: “General Buhari remains my boss but he is not a member of our party. So, why is Atiku hobnobbing with him politically? Is he not guilty of anti-party offence already? The other day, President Bola Tinubu told Wike that APC must win the council election in FCT and he agreed.
“Wike has been given a direct order to win FCT for APC and he still claims to be a member of PDP. Are people now shameless politically that they cannot be principled? Where is the leadership of our party? Why are they tolerating Atiku and Wike? Why are they allowing the duo to continue to embarrass our party publicly?
“Now, some governors are joining them to endorse Tinubu’s reelection in 2027. I ask again, what exactly is going on in our party? Has discipline gone to the dogs? Has everything broken down completely? Has sanity taken flight in the way we run the party now? Nigerians are yearning for change, which only the PDP can offer because ours is the only organised party.
“Apart from Ganduje, who else do you know in APC NWC? APC is a one-man show being controlled from the Villa. This is the time for the national leadership of PDP to take decisive steps to save our great party. As a founding member of our party and an elder statesman, I call on other elders of our party to call Atiku and Wike to order, as the two are not bigger than the PDP. They cannot continue hobnobbing with enemies of our party and think I will keep quiet. The truth must be told every time without minding whose ox is gored. This is the time to save our party from those undermining PDP from within.
“If Atiku is strategising on how to form a coalition with others because of 2027, he should do that outside the structure of our party. You cannot be within and be working against the interest of this party. We will never allow that. Wike’s case is very clear to everybody. He wants to be in the good books of Tinubu while working against our party. He is an adult and knows what is good for him politically but you cannot claim to be in the PDP and be working against the interest of the party.
“Many people do not know that what Wike did in Rivers leading to emergency rule declaration of March 18 is anti-party activity. He organises live interviews across television stations as if he is the president and attacks PDP in the process. If there is any iota of shame left in him, this is the time for him to leave our party.
“His strategy is to continue to work within the party for the President’s reelection. This is the time for our party leadership to wield the big stick because nobody is more powerful than the party. The moment we remove the liabilities in our party, we will be in a formidable position as an opposition party to take over power from APC at the federal level in 2027. Due to the anti-people policies of APC, Nigerians are going through a lot and they are waiting for PDP to alleviate their suffering in 2027,”he said.
Politics
Reps Constitution Review Committee Holds Zonal Hearing For Rivers, C’River, Akwa Ibom In Calabar
A press statement issued by the Chief Press Secretary to the Cross River State Governor, Mr Linus Obogo, disclosed that the Calabar Centre — designated as Centre B — will host representatives and stakeholders from Cross River, Rivers, and Akwa Ibom States.
The public hearing is scheduled to take place on Saturday, July 19, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. at the Transcorp (Metropolitan) Hotel, Calabar.
The initiative, according to the statement, is designed to promote inclusive dialogue and capture the aspirations of Nigerians from all regions.
It aims to serve as a platform for citizens to contribute meaningfully to the ongoing national efforts to refine and strengthen the country’s legal and institutional frameworks.
“Citizens, civil society groups, professional bodies, traditional rulers, and other interest blocs are invited to participate in this landmark engagement aimed at advancing a more just, equitable, and responsive Nigerian Constitution,” the statement read.
The hearing forms part of the broader review process of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), and is seen as a strategic move toward fostering national unity and addressing structural legal issues within the federation.
For the first time since 2022, when then-presidential aspirant Alhaji Bola Tinubu declared he made former President Buhari Nigeria’s President in 2015, Mr Mustapha dismissed the claims, stressing that the merger only contributed about three million votes in addition to Buhari’s existing 12 million votes in the North.
He insisted that former President Buhari’s integrity, national stature, and disciplined messaging were central to the breakthrough, not the three million votes from the merging parties, which he described as insignificant.
Speaking on the role of the merging parties, particularly President Tinubu, the leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Mr Mustapha, who was the keynote speaker at the launch of the book ‘According to the President: Lessons from a Presidential Spokesman’s Experience’ authored by Mallam Garba Shehu, described the impact of the votes from other merging parties as very insignificant.
In attendance were former Head of State Yakubu Gowon, chair of the event; immediate past Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; SGF George Akume, who represented President Tinubu; PDP’s 2023 presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar; former Chief of Staff to Buhari Ibrahim Gambari; elder statesman Babagana Kingibe; former governors Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna), Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Chris Ngige (Anambra), Rauf Aregbesola (Osun), Raji Babatunde Fashola (Lagos); former ministers Solomon Dalung and Sunday Dare; former Army Chief Tukur Buratai, and Bayo Onanuga, President Tinubu’s spokesman, among others.
According to Mr Mustapha, “I do not intend to stir up any controversy. The merger in 2013 was midwifed to create a Buhari presidency. Let us look at the statistics. In the 2003 election, it was the Obasanjo-Buhari presidential contest where Buhari recorded 12.7 million votes. In 2007, it came to 6.6 million, and it went back to 12.2 million in 2011.
“When we were conceptualising the merger, what would give us a headstart? Obviously, it was at the back of our consciousness that the merger with the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), though it had only one state, the ACN had six states, ANPP three states, and when you sum up the total votes that we had as the presidency in 2015, the aggregate of the total votes was 15.4 million.
“So, basically, what we brought to the table after the merger outside the Buhari 12.5 million votes was three million. Before turning to that presidency, it is important to recognise the former President’s role in reshaping Nigeria’s political trajectory.
“In early 2013, as the leader of the CPC, Buhari formally requested and supported the creation of a CPC merger committee, part of a broader coalition-building process that brought together the ACN, ANPP, APGA faction, and elements of the ruling party through the breakaway ‘new PDP’ group. His endorsement and participation, along with other party leaders such as President Tinubu and Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, lent credibility and direction to the merger, helping to unify disparate party factions under the banner of the APC. That coalition-building paved the way for the first democratic defeat of an incumbent ruling party in Nigeria’s history.
“President Buhari’s integrity, national stature, and disciplined messaging were central to that breakthrough. No account of President Buhari’s tenure would be complete without acknowledging the extended periods he spent on medical leave. These moments, while politically delicate, were also telling of his leadership philosophy and personality,” he said.
In his remarks, President Tinubu promised to build on the legacies of former President Buhari, stressing that “nation-building is a relay. The efforts of one administration lay the foundation for the next.
“In this regard, I acknowledge the efforts of my predecessor, President Buhari, and assure all Nigerians that the reform-oriented path he initiated will be consolidated and strengthened under this administration. Our Renewed Hope Agenda is inspired by the desire to build a resilient, just, and inclusive Nigeria—a nation that delivers dividends of democracy to all its citizens”.
Speaking during an appearance on live television on Wednesday, Mr Omokri alleged that Mr Obi’s statements were misleading and damaging to the country’s economic prospects.
Mr Omokri said some investors currently operating in Nigeria were considering exiting the market due to Mr Obi’s remarks.
“That is not true. He doesn’t rile me up. I rile him up. The reason why I came here is because I’m a patriot. Peter Obi lied. You know, foreign direct investors are watching your programme, who are making investment decisions not to come to Nigeria. There are foreign investors in Nigeria that are making investment decisions to leave Nigeria because of the lie he told.
“One of the lies he told is that President Tinubu has borrowed more than the administrations of Yar’Adua, Jonathan, Buhari. That is a blatant lie”, Mr Omokri said.
To buttress his claims, Mr Omokri referenced figures from the Debt Management Office (DMO), maintaining that President Tinubu had actually reduced Nigeria’s external debt burden since assuming office.
“I have here with me data from the Debt Management Office, and Nigerians who are watching can go to DMO.com and search Debt Management Office, Nigeria State of Indebtedness 2015.
“As of 2015, Nigeria was owing a total of $63 billion. When Buhari was leaving office, Nigeria was owing $113 billion. Today, from the DMO, our debt has gone from $113 billion to $97 billion, meaning that Tinubu has reduced our debt by over $14 billion.
“We should be appreciating this man. Yet Peter Obi came here and lied to the Nigerian people. He took the debts and translated them into naira to make it look like the debts have increased”, he said.