Tambuwal taught us a lesson in politics, says Bode George, posits Atiku, Igbo, Yoruba’s blood flow together

*Tells how PDP will defeat APC hegemony in Lagos 2023

Former Deputy National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode Ibiyinka George, has described the wisdom displayed by Governor of Sokoto State, Alhaji Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, during the recent national delegates congress of the party as a brilliant way to teach a people a lesson in politics.

He said the Tambuwal’s wisdom, which will remain in history, gave to the PDP a candidate in Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, whose blood, according to him, flows together with the blood of Igbo and Yoruba as he told the inside story of Atiku’s emergence as the party’s presidential candidate in a media interview he granted, published in Vanguard on Sunday.

While describing Atiku’s candidacy as a unifier, the former Military Governor of old Ondo State urged the former Vice President to embark on a reconciliatory mission and re-zoning of national offices in line with the letters of PDP constitution.

The Atona Ooduwa, when asked about the behind the scenes happenings that threw Atiku up at the primary election given the good fight put in by Governor Nyesom Wike, said:

“I think it is too early to do a thorough postmortem analysis. As an elder of the party, there are things I should disclose and there are things we should use as a teaching exercise to prevent any breakup of the party. I won’t be able to give that detailed postmortem. But I would convince the public that we are better managers than the All Progressives Congress, APC. The electorate would look at your management style because you are asking them to trust you. But if we cannot convince them of that, how would they vote for us?

“The convention was another experience. The reduction in the number of delegates was a shocker. It had never happened. So it was a new experience. Having only 774 delegates after we had planned for over 5000 people reduced the tension that preceded the convention. It also fastened the time of delivery. The exercise was well managed. People saw the transparency, calmness, and carnival-like atmosphere. The shocker that came sent everybody off the canvas. We were wondering how we were going to manage the delegates. And they did the best they could.”

On Tambuwal

He continued, “The politics that played out was legal. There is nothing illegal in anybody saying he is doffing his hat for someone or throwing in the towel for some reason. That is the new game. People must be wary of that. In their tactical table, they should know despite better planning, anything can happen.

“You know the old saying that says 24 hours is like a long time. When they said Governor Tambuwal was going to address delegates, everybody was wondering because he had addressed us as an aspirant. He dropped the bomb which took everybody unawares. As a general, such things do not surprise me because in war everything is feasible. We now have to tell them that until the end of the game, it is not yet over.

“This is a new lesson for the younger generation of politicians. They should know that when you are in the trenches planning and everybody is telling you there is no problem until the final hour, don’t trust anyone,” he said.

On what Atiku’s emergence means to PDP, he said: “Atiku is an old politician and the most experienced among them. On the day of the convention, I prayed that the almighty God should descend on the arena and that whoever should emerge would be a Nigerian first. I prayed for someone who would not see himself as a tribal leader, but someone who would be able to pull us together.