The Integrity Group, a faction of the People’s Democratic Party, will not support or campaign for the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in the 2023 general elections. Former National Deputy Chairman and a leading chieftain of the PDP in the South West, Olabode George, stated this on Thursday in Lagos at a press briefing.
He, however, assured that the Integrity Group, formerly known as the G5, will support all other candidates of the party across the country in the coming elections.
George defined the principle called ‘rotation and zoning’ as “the very foundation and political spinal cord that has held our great party together since its formative hours in 1998. This is what some of us refer to as ‘Turn by Turn Nigeria Limited’, a tradition of inclusiveness, deeply embedded and deep-rooted in the general concept of equity, fairness and justice.”
He then said “Despite the ongoing inept attitude of the gladiators holding us down, we are ready and will, with all the strength we can muster, God helping us, support all the party’s candidates, except for the Presidency because the top party managers definitively refuse to share the six top positions before the general elections and not after election as being canvassed by these few people.
He added that “By insisting that the presidential candidate, national chairman and Director General of the Presidential Campaign Council of PDP should come from a particular section of the country, you are trying to destroy the culture and norms of the party in a nation with diverse ethnic groups and sectarian plurality, where the strong fiber of national union is still much tenuous, where suspicions still flare, where sectarian divide is yet volatile. I make bold to say the recourse to the principle of zoning is the stop gap that induces a sense of belonging and unity among our people.”
Going down memory lane, Bode George said “This is boldly written in our party constitution and we are determined to defend this legacy left for us by Dr. Alex Ekwueme, Chief Solomon Lar, Alhaji Adamu Ciroma, Chief Sunday Awoniyi, Chief Bola Ige and other founding fathers of our great party.
“My humble self and my co-travelers in the struggle for justice and fairness, the G5 governors, now called the Integrity Group, want to make it abundantly clear, without any equivocation, that we remain committed and loyal members of PDP, despite the present crisis.
“Our disagreement is about the unilateral, selfish and subjective action of a few to sow a seed of discord which, if we are not careful, may lead to the disintegration of our great party. It creates a feeling that none will be elbowed out of our common patrimony. It guarantees that someday, power will shift in such a rotational order that every section of our multi-plural society will occupy a seat at the center.
George warned that “There is no room here for wobbly, indecisive representation. Our position must be clear and not woolly. Our vision must be deliberate, assertive on the path of justice and truth. Personal interest must be discarded on the greater altar of national cohesion. The narrow partisan canvas must be jettisoned for the larger purity of the strengthening of the national union.
“The greater summative interest of the Nigerian state is far superior to any recourse to ethnic corridor or sectarian pathway. Ours is a potentially great nation. The building fundamentals of a progressive society are achievable when we are willing to surrender the narrow purview of self-aggrandizement for the selfless embrace of the national good.
Our nation has not reached a stage where the indices of tribes and sectarian liaisons are completely voided from the political bearings. They are still there. Our structures are delicate, fragile, weak, flailing in the wind,” he argued.
He used the opportunity to appreciate the arrow head of the struggle and Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, for bestowing on him and others the highest honour of the state.
“Equally, as a great believer in the age-long golden adage that says “a prophet is not appreciated in His own domain”, I owe this occasion to the honour recently accorded me by the fearless fighter and firm believer in fairness and justice, the Governor of Rivers State, His Excellency, Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, who bestowed on me along other distinguished Nigerians, the highest honour of Rivers State. I say I feel most appreciated for being considered worthy of such an important honour. Thank you, Your Excellency and May God always be your pilot.”
