The Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) may lose next year’s presidential election, if the party fails to resolve the internal wrangling confronting it, party chieftain in the Southwest, Chief Olabode George has warned.

George, a former deputy national chairman (South) said though he is not God and does not see the crystal ball, “a divided house is a defeated house”.

His words: “I am not God. But it is certain that as a divided house, we will fall. If you discountenance our counsel and you say it doesn’t matter good luck! The party is wobbling. If this issue is not resolved, how can we say we are campaigning? I am praying, hoping that some people will listen. If they don’t, if the aftermath of the election does not go our way, it will be on record that we sounded the alarm.”

The former deputy national chairman (South) said it was unfortunate that the presidential candidate of his party, Atiku Abubakar, has kicked off his campaign without first unifying the divided members of the party. George who spoke on Channels Television’s current affairs programme, Politics Today recently said it is painful to see that the issue causing friction in the party was left unattended to.

George and other notable leaders of the party in the south and beyond have been urging the National Chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu to vacate his office to create room for balancing, equity and fairness. While Ayu had said he would not leave because he was elected to serve for four years, Atiku has insisted that those agitating for Ayu’s removal should follow the due process of the law.

This has created a quagmire in the party, leading to some of the chieftains to withdraw from the presidential campaign council. George said it is unexplainable that the problem remains unresolved. He said: “It is excruciatingly painful to me because this is not a major problem; it is the last hurdle for us to cross and we would be ready to meet the needs of Nigerians. Why this is becoming intractable is a mirage to me. It is a simple issue like I have said often.”

George added that Atiku has the opportunity to prevail on Ayu to do the needful. His words: “The onus is on our presidential candidate to talk to Ayu in the interest of balancing and equity, let him vacate the office. How can one person be the source of all this imbroglio at the party? Why? I just can’t understand this. It is excruciatingly painful to see this massive going through this crisis.”

He added: “Our presidential candidate is one of the founding fathers of this party and he knows the truth. He is now the leader and he is being referred to as a unifier. This is a little litmus test, and he must be able to manage the resources, the anger, and the differences to prove to Nigerians that he has the competence and the managerial skills and that he is mature enough to handle all differences. We will disagree, but we must never be disagreeable. A divided house is a defeated house. “ (The Nation)

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