Wike’s Aide Faults Bode George, Says Ex-PDP Deputy Chair Lacks Moral Authority

The senior special assistant on Public Communications and Social Media to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr. Lere Olayinka, has taken a swipe at former deputy national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Bode George, urging him to conduct himself like an elder statesman and refrain from what he described as incessant attacks on FCT Minister Nyesom Wike.

In a statement issued on Thursday, Olayinka said George should “borrow a bit of maturity that comes with old age,” advising the 81-year-old politician to “take a rest and stop embarrassing himself and the Yoruba race by persistently dancing naked in the market place of politics.”

According to him, George, who served as Military governor of the old Ondo State in 1988, ought to exhibit greater restraint and dignity instead of making frequent television appearances to criticise politicians young enough to be his children.

“For someone who was Military Governor of the old Ondo State 38 years ago, some level of decorum and maturity is expected. But it is becoming an embarrassment the way a man like Chief Bode George, who should be acting like an elder statesman, is jumping from one television station to another to malign people who are young enough to be his children,” Olayinka said.

He also challenged the PDP chieftain to account for the party’s poor electoral fortunes in Lagos State, arguing that despite George’s influence, the PDP has remained politically irrelevant in the state since 1999.

Olayinka alleged that George had failed to deliver victory for the PDP even in his own polling unit.

“Unlike Lagos State, we have had PDP governors in Ogun, Ondo, Ekiti, Oyo and Osun states. Rather than doing ‘cho cho cho’ all the time, Bode George should tell Nigerians why the PDP has remained on the sidelines of Lagos politics since 1999,” he stated.

The FCT minister’s spokesman further urged George to behave in a manner befitting his age, saying elderly leaders should be guided by wisdom, restraint and exemplary conduct.

“Even if a man was overspoilt, rascally, too playful and dull as a child, at 81, he should have outgrown those vices,” he said.

Drawing from Yoruba tradition, Olayinka maintained that respect for elders is earned through responsible conduct.

“In Yorubaland, it is a strict cultural and traditional rule to respect elders. However, this respect is not automatic; it is conditional, and the major condition is that an elder must avoid disrespecting himself.

“That is why it is said that an elder who chooses to tie corn to his waist and run around will have fowls chasing and making mockery of him,” he added.

Olayinka also questioned why George appeared to be the only prominent political figure of his generation regularly engaging in media exchanges.

“Who among those eminent Nigerians who served as Military Governors with Bode George between 1988 and 1990 are doing ‘political we no go gree’ up and down, jumping from one media house to another to lie?

“Even in the PDP, who among those who served in the party’s National Working Committee with him is talking anyhow in the media as he is doing?” he queried.

He further criticised George for repeatedly threatening to leave Nigeria if President Bola Ahmed Tinubu became President but failing to honour those promises.

Olayinka recalled that between 2015 and 2022, George publicly declared on several occasions that he would go into exile, relocate to Ghana or Togo, or renounce his Nigerian citizenship if Tinubu became President.

He cited George’s comments in 2015, 2020, 2021 and 2022, including a March 19, 2022 press briefing where the PDP chieftain reportedly said, “If by whatever chance he gets to the Villa, I won’t be part of this country. I am not joking. I can go to Ghana and be watching with binoculars from afar.

“It is now more than three years since Tinubu became President and Bode George has failed to honour his own words. Should such an elder still be regarded as honourable?” Olayinka asked.

Defending Wike’s earlier remarks on the PDP stalwart, Olayinka insisted that the minister stood by his allegation that George’s Abuja residence was acquired with funds belonging to Rivers State.

He argued that George’s explanation that he bought the property through an agent from a private owner did not address the issue raised by the minister.

“Wike’s statement was never about who sold the property or through whom it was purchased. Rather, what he said was that the money with which the property was acquired came from Rivers State, and this is the question Bode George must answer,” Olayinka said.