Former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Bode George, has issued a stark warning against the growing tendency by powerful stakeholders to treat the opposition party as a personal estate, insisting that the platform belongs to no single individual.
Speaking during an appearance on Channels Television’s Morning Brief, the PDP chieftain argued that the party’s current challenges stem from a fundamental disregard for its constitution by members who believe their financial contributions entitle them to authority higher than the party’s elected leadership. “People lost the respect and the dictates of the constitution because they think because I contribute to the financial something of the party, therefore I must have powers more than the chairman or more than the party,” George stated. He emphasized that the organization cannot function as a private enterprise where the whims of financiers determine whether the party “should stand up or sit down.”
George identified this mindset as the crux of the party’s internal crises. He challenged the narrative of ownership directly, asking rhetorically, “You will now come and say ‘I own the party’. Who the hell are you?” According to the former deputy chairman, the party’s survival depends on strict adherence to its established structures. He cautioned that any attempt to plan against the standardized establishment amounts to a deliberate decimation of the collective. “Once something has been standardized and established, you don’t go against that establishment, you don’t start planning against that establishment because if you do, you are decimating the party. That’s what has happened now,” he added.
The intervention highlights persistent factional struggles within the PDP, where disputes over control of the party machinery have frequently overshadowed its mandate as the main opposition platform. George’s remarks underscore a broader demand for institutional supremacy over individual influence, a debate critical to the party’s efforts to reorganize its structures. Observers note that resolving the tension between financial patronage and constitutional governance remains a defining hurdle for the PDP’s leadership as it navigates the complex political landscape.
