FORMER Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode George, said on Tuesday that only the Supreme Court can resolve the lingering crisis rocking the party.
The party chieftain made this pronouncement while addressing news at his office in Ikoyi, even as he accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of plotting to decimate opposition political parties and turn the country into a one-party state.
Speaking at a conference attended by PDP bigwigs, including former Minister of Transport, Chief Ebenezer Babatope; former Lagos State Deputy Governor, Mrs Kofoworola Burknor- Akerele; former Lagos PDP chairman, Captain Tunji Selle, among others, Chief George expressed the view that the ultimate resolution of the PDP crisis resided in the Apex Court which had proven time and time again as an organ consisted of proven integrity.
“My clear submission is that the ultimate resolution of the PDP crisis resides in the Supreme Court which has proven time and time again as an organ of responsible, intelligent, integrity conscious and morally upright men and women whose purpose and vision is to protect the dignity of the Judiciary.
“There can’t be any half measures anymore. We need a clear, firm and binding total solution. This can only be obtained at the highest court in the land. Nothing else will do,” he said.
Speaking against the report that some of the party leaders were seeking political solution to the crisis, George, who is also the Atona Oodua, said, there could be any half measures anymore, declaring that the party needed a clear, firm and binding total solution.
“We need a clear, firm and binding total solution. This can only be obtained at the highest court in the land. Nothing else will do,” he declared.
The PDP chieftain, while tracing the root cause of the festering crisis rocking the party to some “unveiled external linkages,” said, “There are veritable intrusive conspirators out there who do not wish us well.”
“There are indeed agents of fury and storm who are bent on provoking the destruction of the PDP.
“The conspirators who are out there beyond the confines of our party have found pliable tools, the aggressive fifth columnists who are without conscience or principles and who are willing to mortgage the truth for personal acquisitions.
“The ultimate aim of these conspirators is to decimate the opposition organ, annihilate the structures of dissent, vanquish all alternative fora of pluralistic contributions and therefore reduce the nation to a one-party monolith,” he added.
Stressing the importance of opposition in a democracy, George said the sustenance of every enduring democracy is the effective opposition saying it keeps the ruling party alert.
“The sustenance of every enduring democracy is the effective opposition. It keeps the ruling party alert. It provides a platform for alternative vision for the governance of the state.
“In the striking continuity of the oppositional refrain, the nation engages itself in perpetual, vigorous debate, therefore, preventing any slide into a tyrannical, omniscient leadership.
“In the end, an effective opposition is not only the heart-beat of democracy, it strengthens the ruling party by a conscious and constant reminder that it needs to perform and meet the aspirations of the people to remain in power,” Chief George said.