The former Deputy Chairman and Board of Trustees (BoT) of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Bode George, has said former Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido, acted on a misunderstanding of the party’s nomination process for its 2025 national convention.
Bode George, who spoke on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday, expressed shock that Lamido resorted to litigation, insisting that the former governor failed to follow clearly stated procedures.
Explaining the events that triggered the dispute, George said the nomination guidelines were approved at the last National Executive Committee meeting.
According to the PDP chieftain, all aspirants complied except Lamido.
This is as George assured Nigerians that the PDP remains intact despite the legal disputes and internal disagreements that have unsettled the party in recent weeks.
He said, “At the last NEC meeting we had, the date for the collection of forms for those who wanted to contest was stipulated.
“What they are supposed to do and when they are supposed to return the forms were all well stated and approved by NEC. That is the procedure.
“Everybody who wanted to collect forms was live, paid the normal dues, and they got the form. But on his (Lamido’s) own side, he came physically on the very day that the return of forms closed.
“Of course, with his status, if he had called them (NEC) earlier or told them that he wanted to take this form, they would have obliged because of his status.
“But to now take that to court because they didn’t give him the form? That day was the last day to return the forms, so did he do what is right?” he asked.
“I want to reassure you that this party is solid, undivided, and the way things went on, I am hell-shocked that he (Sule Lamido) took the party to court,” he said.
Describing the PDP as “an Iroko,” George insisted the party’s national convention would proceed as scheduled.
“The convention will go on. The court under Justice Akintola has given its own judgment. He stated that the order to continue our operations has been extended till Monday next week and that he will give his own judgement on 8 December.
“The majority of the members of the party know that this party is the Iroko, a political party in Nigeria. There is no organisation that will not have disagreements or debates, all kinds of things,” he said.
Also appearing on the programme, Lamido insisted the case was not an attack on the PDP but a personal attempt to reclaim his honour.
“I went to court not because I have anybody in mind, but I went to get my rights taken back by my party. The issue is just about my own personality, dignity, and honour being restored more than anything else,” he said.
The former governor said the crisis had exposed the erosion of trust within the party.
“I won the case, fair enough, but then again, it is also equally tormenting that the case I won is about my party, about our unity, family. A family that was so united and cohesive, with so much love and trust, is all eroded, and we are now simply fighting. And I feel very sad; let the problem be solved,” he added.
He said he could not withdraw the suit since a judgment had already been delivered, and he accused some PDP governors of contributing to the crisis.
Lamido further stressed that he would not attend the convention in Ibadan, citing the subsisting court injunction.
“This is very clear. For someone saved by the court, I can’t go where there is an injunction on the convention. How do I go there again? Am I now renouncing something I gained in the court?
“If I go to the convention, then it means whatever I have gotten has been washed away. There is a certain order from the court which restored my dignity, and therefore I will stand by the court because I am a party man who believes in law and order.
“Therefore, going to Ibadan means a renunciation of what I have gotten. The court gave a very clear injunction that the convention must not hold, so how do I go there? I can’t go there,” he said.
