A member of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Bode George, has issued a stern warning that the party may not survive if former Vice President Atiku Abubakar secures the PDP presidential ticket for the 2027 general election.
Speaking on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme aired on Monday, April 14, George declared: “If he (Atiku) picks it (PDP’s ticket), that is the end of this party. If he picks it by manipulation which was what was done the last time, we will not accept it.”
Atiku, who has been in the presidential race for over three decades and has contested under different political platforms six times, recently led efforts to form a political coalition with other influential figures, including former Governor Peter Obi and ex-Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai. The alliance, unveiled on March 20, 2025, aims to challenge the current administration led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
However, PDP governors on Monday publicly rejected the coalition idea, distancing the party from any merger talks.
Commending the governors’ stance, George said Atiku had failed to act as a true leader of the PDP, especially by not addressing internal party crises.
“No, if he is the leader of the party, he would have waded into it (the crisis). The fact that he was the presidential candidate of the party at the last election doesn’t mean he is a bona fide, fixated leader of the party. If he’s running for his private interest, it’s different from the interest of the party,” he said.
When asked if Atiku could become PDP’s flag bearer again in 2027, the elder statesman firmly ruled it out. “He cannot be. There was eight years in the north, there should be eight years in the south. That is the dictate, that is the doctrine of the PDP,” George stated.
Quoting the party’s constitution, George cited Section 7, Sub-section 3C, which supports rotational presidency. “Once the presidential candidate has been in the south for eight years, it had to go to the north. And after another eight years, it would come to the south. Is Atiku from the South-West, South-South or South-East?” he asked rhetorically.
Despite his disapproval of Atiku’s ambitions, Bode George made it clear that he also does not support a second term for President Tinubu, emphasizing his desire for a PDP victory in 2027—with a southern candidate.
