Former Deputy National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode George, has said any plans by the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to field Muslims as presidential and vice-presidential candidates would amount to being very insensitive to other Nigerians.
George said this on Tuesday, during a press conference in his Lagos office, in reaction to speculations that the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, might choose a Muslim as his running mate, saying doing that would only exacerbate the already tense religious situation in the country.
George, who is also the Atona Oodua of the Source, described as ‘utter madness’ any attempt to do so, adding it was akin to adding petrol to fire.
“It would be utter madness to consider a Muslim-Muslim ticket. It’s like you are adding petrol to fire. How can you? he queried.
The PDP chieftain would, who said the country needed peace, sadly recalled that free entrance to his church on Lagos Island was not possible last Sunday, for the first time in history, as the two doors were barricaded because of insecurity.
“Last Sunday we went to church and for the first time in the history of the church, the two doors were barricaded because of insecurity. This is the house of God and it is sacrilegious for anyone to go to the house of God and spill the blood of human beings. What do you gain?
“I have appealed to Christians to tone down the rhetorics because we are spinning out of control. I am a General and I know what it takes to go to war and the consequences of war. We need peace on all sides.
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“We need to provide security of lives and properties. I have made a suggestion of what can be done and I said that community and state policing should be approved. The total number of police officers we have are not enough, so who protects who?
“This is why I said that it would be insanity to at this current time when the nerves are so raw and there is so much anger and dissatisfaction to field two Muslims on one ticket. The friction that this would cause will be capable of creating electricity with the way it is now and then you now want to rub more salt on the injury. To even conceptualise it means you have no respect or regards for Nigerians,” George said.
On the choice of a running mate for the presidential candidate of the PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, George said the party was still consulting and had not made any decisions, pointing out that the matter was a collective responsibility of the leaders of the party.
“We have not yet decided because we are considering all kinds of issues to know where the vice-presidential candidate will go to. It is not a one-man job and we cannot afford to mess up.
“It is the collective responsibility of the leaders of the party and I am sure that they have put parameters in place and my prayer is that God will direct them. If all parties make a mess, who will suffer? It’s the future generations that will suffer,” George said.
Speaking further, Chief George said former governor of Anambra State, Mr Peter Obi, shouldn’t have left PDP for Labour Party (LP) where he emerged the presidential candidate.
He said Obi would have remained in the PDP notwithstanding the provocation as, according to him, the party had the infrastructure to win elections.
“When I learned that Obi left the party, I was shell shocked because he is a man that I have so much respect for in terms of his qualities. I tried to call him but I was not able to reach him.
“I read some of his comments on why he left and you know that politics is an experience because people will insult and annoy you. I was sent to prison for doing nothing and the conspirators thought that they would shut me up forever,” he said.
“In life, you must pass through tribulations. I am very disappointed that he left. You don’t run away from jokers. You stay and fight it out. The jokers have achieved their aim. How will he gather the infrastructure to win elections? He is a man after my heart but he wasn’t supposed to run when faced with a little problem,” he added.
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