Bode George tasks Buhari on Niger Delta, others

Former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode George, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to handle with care some of the critical issues currently facing the country for the sake of posterity.

George, while addressing the media during his 71st birthday yesterday, specifically urged the President to rethink his policies on the ongoing crisis in the Niger Delta crisis, holistically review the upcoming election in Ondo State and the credibility of the judicial arm of the government under his administration.

He said: “What the country is currently going through under the watch of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is nothing to commend, as Nigerians are wallowing in poverty, the nation’s foreign exchange is nose-diving every second, among others.”

George said the crisis in the land goes beyond politics, adding: “Imagine the escalating Boko Haram insurgents ravaging the North East, the persistence Niger Delta militancy and the disruption of the nation’s pipeline, these are all paralysing the economy and making things difficult for the people.”

The PDP stalwart enjoined Buhari to revert to the late Umaru Yar’Adua’s approach of dialogue to handle the Niger Delta issue, saying:

“The country could no longer afford to go to war with the zone that is the cash cow of the nation.”

On the Ondo gubernatorial election imbroglio, George lamented the role of the judiciary, particularly in the PDP primary matter.

“President Buhari should come to quick understanding of the fact that the country is heading into some areas of distabilisation under his watch.

“The case of Ondo has now shown that the stamp of legality could simply be put on abnormality. My fear is whatever happened in the state would be a determinant factor of how the 2019 election would be,” he remarked.