...As his faction threatens to pull out of PDP

Adelowo Oladipo, Lagos - 01.11.2009

A twist may have occurred in the on- going political travails of Chief Olabode George, a former Deputy National Chairman, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the South West geo-political zone, as his teeming followers in the region have threatened to decamp en-masse, to one of the existing political parties in the country.

Sunday Tribune investigation revealed at the weekend in Lagos that the threat by the group to decamp from the PDP is in protest against both the state, regional and the national leaders of the party, over a perceived abandonment of Chief George throughout his trials and his eventual conviction by a Lagos state High Court, last Monday, alongside five former executive directors of the Nigerian Ports Authority over an alleged misappropriation of funds running into about N100 billion.

Sunday Tribune further learnt that if the threat to decamp from the PDP into another party by the groups loyal to the jailed Chieftain of the PDP comes into reality, the present fragile peace existing within the state chapters of the PDP in the South West geo-political zone may further polarize the party members against one another and prevent the party from successfully sweeping the polls in the forthcoming 2011 general elections in the zone.

Some members of the group, who spoke with the Sunday Tribune on Saturday stated that the embattled politician was instrumental to the development, cohesiveness and the strong character of the ruling party in the South-Western parts of the country.

The PDP faithful who begged not to be quoted further highlighted that Chief George had the largest followership in the South-West because of his perceived generosity, compassion for the commoners, friendliness, humility and the ability to mix freely with every segment of the society, irrespective of their social status or religious inclination.

The group further argued that only a few leaders in the South-Western part of the country had the charisma of the embattled politician, just as they took a swipe at a foremost monarch in Lagos State for allegedly condemning Chief Bode George by saying that the politician was one of the white cap honorary chiefs in Lagos but a “local” chief in Ile-Ife, Osun State.

The source explained that the sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo and former President Olusegun Obasanjo, whom they described as their role models, also suffered some humiliations in the course of fighting a just cause in the past though at different times.

They said that with their own little understanding of the law, the Lagos state High Court that tried and convicted Chief Bode George had no jurisdiction to entertain the case because according to them, the issue of contracts splitting and alleged contract inflation, for which the embattled politician and five others were tried and convicted, was supposed to have been entertained by a Federal High Court.

They opined that some powerful PDP members had allegedly conspired to compromise the interests of Chief Bode George, by allegedly making him a sacrificial lamb as far as the issue of corruption and the abuse of public office was concerned in the last political dispensation, under the leadership of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, at the local government, states and federal levels.