Bode George

By Bayo Wahab

Chief Bode George, a founding member of the Peoples Democratic Party, expresses sadness about the defection of former Vice President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and President of the Senate David Mark to the newly formed African Democratic Congress (ADC).

Although Atiku has not formally declared his defection to the ADC, he — amid his party’s lingering crisis — championed the coalition of opposition politicians and their eventual adoption of the party as the coalition’s political platform ahead of the 2027 election.

Meanwhile, citing the PDP crisis, Mark, who emerged as the coalition’s interim national chairman, has officially resigned from the PDP.

Other longstanding members, such as Liyel Imoke and Emeka Ihedioha, both of whom served as governors in Cross River and Imo States under the PDP banner, have also joined the ADC.

Reacting to the development on Friday, George, during an interview on Channels Television, said he’s heartbroken that the main opposition party, which he often regards as the “political Iroko tree in Nigeria,” is being abandoned by some of its founding members due to its internal crisis.

The former military administrator of Lagos State claimed that some of the founding PDP members who dumped the party for the ADC were responsible for the party’s lingering crisis.

He said, “I feel really very heartbroken, I feel really very sad, because the real political Iroko tree…yes, we have a crisis, meanwhile, they are part and parcel of the crisis. The most important thing is that the Nigerian electorate will decide, and I warned them to calm down, do an assessment. Is it because the PDP has collapsed, or is it because of personal aggrandizement or personal ambition or self conceitedness? What is driving them to this other party?

“We have crisis, yes, but I am happy to report to Nigerians that the ability of the PDP to come together, to debate to discuss and analyse the crisis and to come to a conclusion that we will remain united. And the second day, we had the meeting they opted out. As a retired-general, I have ben thinking about what could be the reason behind this, my conclusion is very simple, it is nothing but existential imbecility.”

George also dismissed the narrative that the ADC will be a strong opposition to the ruling party, claiming that the party lacks the strategy to play opposition politics like the PDP.