How Tinubu begged to change plans on leaving Nigeria — Bode George

Former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode George, has revealed that President Bola Tinubu reached out to him through his Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, urging him to reconsider his decision to leave Nigeria.

George had previously threatened to leave the country after Tinubu announced his presidential bid in January 2022. This development came to light as George disclosed the outreach during an interview, following Tinubu’s election victory.

George, a known critic of Tinubu, had expressed concerns over the direction of the country, which led to his declaration of potentially relocating if Tinubu won the presidency.

His words: “I will move away from Nigeria. I’ll leave because he will be your representative on the international plane. Which investment will he bring here? I am not talking because I have any hatred for him.

“This is not the kind of person we can hand over this massive country to manage. He will be the greatest joke on the international plane. We should bother who should lead us.

“If by whatever chance he gets to the villa, I won’t be part of this country. And I am not joking. I can go to Ghana and be watching with binoculars from afar. You will see what will happen.”

Reflecting on the development, George, during an appearance on Arise TV on Wednesday, recounted how Gbajabiamila visited him with a message from Tinubu, urging him to reconsider his position.

“During the campaign period, I stated it and I meant it—that if by whatever measure Bola Tinubu wins this election, I was going to get out.

“Once they heard that, Tinubu sent his chief of staff, who is my little brother from Lagos State, Femi Gbajabiamila, to appeal to me.

“He came to say, ‘My boss said I should tell you, please be calm’. They knew they had wronged me. They said they were sorry.”

Speaking further, George stated that the crisis within the PDP emerged during the lead-up to the 2023 presidential election. He highlighted how internal tensions and disagreements intensified, urging aggrieved factions to sheathe their sword.

“The last convention, the presidential convention, was when everything started, and instead of arresting it, they were exacerbating it.

“With all that, you cannot have the chairman of the party and the presidential candidate from one side of the divide—they didn’t listen.”

He also recalled how he confronted Iyorchia Ayu, the former party chair, regarding his commitment to step down if a northern presidential candidate was nominated.

“Ayu made a public statement that peradventure the presidency comes from the north, he would resign. But when the results were announced, he said, ‘I have four years; I’m not going anywhere’.

“This is breach of trust! Of course, people would react to that. It’s against the party constitution to have the chairman of the party and the presidential candidate from the same zone — it is an anomaly.

“I want to appeal to the leaders of the various groups in the party that it is time to shelve your personal ambitions and let us rebuild the party.

“There is no organisation in the world without crisis, but the ability to rebuild the crisis is needed.

“This crisis didn’t start now; it started from the presidential convention and nobody was able to manage it.

“Atiku and Wike should calm down and let us go to the elders meeting where we would start this discussion, to trace this crisis back to that convention, because that was where everything started going in the wrong direction.”