How I Ended My Rift With Pres. TINUBU

70

•  DP Elder, Chief BODE GEORGE Explains

Not many people know that PDP Elder, Chief Olabode George and President Bola Tinubu have ended their age long rift. We can confirm that to you. Both politicians have ended their disagreement. And the reconciliation happened in 2023, shortly after President Tinubu won the presidential elections. Before that time, Chief Bode George was not on speaking terms with Asiwaju Bola Tinubu over the alleged role Tinubu played in the jailing of Bode George who was then the Chairman of Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA).

Bode George was arrested, tried and jailed for an offence which George said he didn’t commit. According to him his trial ought to have been tried by a federal court but was handled by a Lagos Court. How do you charge a Bode George and others vs FG case in a state court? He saw it as a prearranged conspiracy. After serving his jail term, George was released and he vowed never to forgive Tinubu who he alleged engineered his travails.

But shortly after Tinubu won the presidency in 2025, a few emvissaries were sent to him to appeal for reconciliation. The first emvissary was the President’s Chief of Staff, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila who has a close relationship with Bode George. Both hail from Lagos. Gbajabiamila called up Chief Bode George one day and requested for audience. Both had been involved previously on a Lagos project and George thought it was about that he was coming to see him. It was when Gbajabiamila got there that he told him he was from the President. And his mission was a simple one.

That Chief should please let byegones be byegones. He pleaded with Chief Bode George to forgive the President irrespective of what may have happened in the past. Both discussed exhaustively. And they left it at that. Then came the second set of emissaries led by Baba Olusi, the respected Lagos politician. Baba Olusi simply called up Chief Bode George to know whether he was at work that day. And he said Yes. Baba did not tell him, he was coming over. He just told him that he would be sending a message in the next few hours.

Lo and behold, Baba Olusi who is a trusted political associate of the President and one of the respected Elders of the APC in Lagos State drove to Chief Bode George’s Ikoyi office with some other Lagos Elders who are in their 80s. Chief Bode George was shocked. He complained that Baba shouldn’t have come and that all he needed to have done was to invite him over to his house and he would have obliged. Baba Olusi then explained that he had to come, since he was the one who needed help from Bode George.

Other elders joined Olusi in pleading with George to forgive President Tinubu who had just come in as President. They laced their speeches with deep Yoruba proverbs. After a lot of persuasion Chief Bode George had no option than to accept the plea from the Elders. What he didn’t agree with was for him to follow them to visit Tinubu to finally end their rift. Chief Bode George told City People a few days back, that as a Christian he had no option but to forgive Tinubu.

He told them that although he has forgiven Tinubu, they should give him some more time to fully heal from the trauma of all he went through in prison. He said he has since made up with Tinubu. When Chief Bode George turned 80 last year, Pres. Tinubu sent a high powered delegation to his birthday party which held in Victoria Island, Lagos. But right now, Chief Olabode George, who is one of the formidable Elders in the PDP is not happy with FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike. And he is not hiding it. He says Wike has not accorded him the respect he deserves as one of his Elders in the party.  He told City People that a few days back.

George is a valued member of the PDP. He has held various key positions within the party. And today he is one of the most respected chieftains of the party. He is a Life member of the Board of Trustees and at various times he has served in various capacities.

However right now, the 81 year old elderstatesman is very angry with Wike who has been throwing jabs at him for not associating with his own faction of the PDP. Chief Bode George is with the Turaki group of the party, which he (George) says is the authentic faction.

A few weeks back, during his last Media chat, Wike had criticised Chief Bode George for taking sides and being one of those  causing the current division in the party. He said a lot of unprintable things about George, during the media chat. Chief Bode George is very unhappy at Wike’s utterance about him. “That boy was talking nonesense,” an angry Chief Bode George told City People when we met with him at his Ikoyi office in Lagos last Wednesday. “Wike is too junior to me, for me to be joining issues with. Who is Wike by the way? Where was he when the PDP was formed? Who does he think he is? Ordinarily, I shouldn’t be seen dignifying Wike’s utterances with a response, but I need to correct all his lies.”

“Will Wike be rude to his elders if he is well brought up the African way? If a child in an African setting has elders, will he be rude to his elders, if he is well brought up? He won’t dare do that. He thinks what he is doing is Politics. He calls what he is doing Politics. But it is not Politics. It is Politricks, and a thoughtless innuendo that can never augur well for them. They are not part of our party, the PDP. They claim they are still part of our party. We are saying they are not. I have the boldness to say so, to tell them the truth, because I come from a vibrant political house, Papa Herbert Macaulay is my great grand Uncle. We are celebrating his 80th passing away, and in November it will be 162 years that he was born. He was the 1st Nigerian politician. In 1923 he established NDPP, the 1st political party. We were born into it. We learnt a lot from his contribitions to the Service to the People.”

“He was an elite. He lived on No 8 Marina Street, in Lagos, in those good old days, at the Caxton Hall? Can you imagine a  blackman living on Marina Street. Of course, his grandfather, (Maternal), was the 1st black Bishop, Papa Ajayi Crowther. His own father was Papa Rev. Matthew Macaulay, who founded the CMS Grammar School, the 1st Secondary School in this country, in 1859. He was born in 1862.

All their contribution to this country will not allow us to be quiet, when the country is heading into hell.That is why I keep wondering who are those people mentioning Bode George?

“Where were they, when I was made a Military Governor? That was in 87 to 90. Where were these boys then. I was 42 years at that time. Today I am 81. It is an insult for those characters to be talking about  Bode George anyhow. Infact, to even sit and talk about them, is an infradig, totally insulting. These are just opportunists, looking for recognition. If you are a civilised person and you have a better option to what we are saying, you could counter it or made a better suggestion. That is the civilised position. Not this Village Type attack dogs. That is what I call them. I have no time for them. They are the same age as my 1st child so why should I waste my time on them.”

“But some day they will reap what they have sown, especially that guy, Wike. How does he see the mess that the PDP is going through? “It is so sad. That is why I said even if I remain the last person, I won’t quit. I will remain the last man standing. We need to be able to tell Truth to Power. We don’t need all these noisemakers. What is their background? Where are they from? What experience of life have they gathered? Okay. Somebody made him (Wike) local government Chairman. Somebody also appointed him Chief of Staff to the Governor. Who is Wike? How old is he? Somebody made him Minister of Education. Then, he went to be the Governor of Rivers State and came back to be FCT Minister. Does he know what they call humility? Does he know what is called Civility. Does he know what is called the acceptable behaviour of a proper true born home child. He sees Elders and he is talking lies”.

“Can you imagine? He said he built my house in Abuja for me. He must be drunk. I didn’t even build the house, I bought the house. He said Rivers State bought it for me. Am I a Riversman? No. I am saying this publicly, My advice is to the President, Bola Tinubu. He has to be careful with Wike. Let him look at all those who have assisted that particular chap, along the line, those who mentored him, what did he do to them, what did he say to them? Who first made it possible for him to be LG Chairman? Dr. Odili. You want to hear the way he called him or the way he referred to him? He has been on the creamy side of life. He hasn’t seen the full throttle of life. He says a lot of crap. That is even not the issue. That man that he is pretending to be working for is the one who should be careful. We are celebrating Papa Herbert Macaulay in Lagos today because he did a lot and touched lives of families, in his life time, it was service to humanity. That is the kind of man we are looking up to. What else am I looking for at 81? That is the kind of man we want to generate in this country. That is why I have said I will keep serving this country until  God calls my flight.

The vicissitudes of life has taken me from the top of the mountain to the bottom of the valley. All Wike has done is to split and denigrate our party. What do you mean, when you say Wike group? What group? Which group? Those are the renegrades. You say you are PDP. But you nominate a candidate for APC in Rivers, for Labour. You alone is that Politics or Politricks? Is that Decency or Idiocy? Is that civility or absolute lunacy? What are you doing? Wike has demigrated our party, PDP. This Iroko political party. There is no party in this country that is as well spread as the PDP. I am a Life member of the Board of Trustees of our party.” At 81, if they call my flight I will be too happy to follow Angel Gabriel and I will board.”