Former deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode George, has confirmed that a peace meeting did hold between him and some elders together with community leaders in Lagos State
The peace parley was brokered by retired Justice Isola Olorunnimbe and had in attendance Prince Tajudeen Olusi, the leader of the Governance Advisory Council (GAC), the apex leadership of the party in Lagos State; the Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs, Mrs Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire; former Deputy Governors of Lagos State, Senator Kofoworola Bucknor-Akerele and Prince Abiodun Ogunleye; former acting Secretary of the PDP, Chief Remi Akitoye; former Minister of Communications, Major General Tajudeen Olarenwaju (retd); Chief Gbadebo Dallas, and Mrs Onikepo Oshodi.
At the meeting, Chief Olusi, while seeking the support of Chief George and other elders for the development of Lagos State, said it was important for leaders in the community to take steps to improve the relationship between Tinubu and George, noting that the President-elect of Nigeria is Tinubu.
According to George, an ardent critic of President-elect Bola Tinubu, he couldn’t turn down their request for a meeting because of his respect for Olorunnimbe and the other elders.
George said: “They were led by Papa Olorunnimbe, a 94-year-old man. In Yoruba land, such a man cannot say he wants to come to my house and I will say no. It’s not done in my culture. There were other elders from the PDP.”
On the purpose of the meeting, the PDP chieftain said the delegation came to apologise to him over past issues and seek his support for the President-elect.
George said he, however, turned down the request to visit Tinubu, saying he couldn’t do such because his party was in court challenging the President-elect’s victory at the February 18 presidential election.
He said, “First of all, they came to apologise for whatever they had done in the past, and I said I have moved on and have nothing against his person. We may disagree on policies but we must not be disagreeable. Secondly, they wanted me to pay him a courtesy call. I was like, what are you talking about? I am the man representing South-West in the national confines of our party and I’m a life BoT member. So, how do I add that together? We are still in court, how do I now say I want to go and greet him? Greet him for what? What will my party and my people think about me? Once we finish at the court, then we’ll know what to do. The PDP members and I present were very clear in our mind that going to him now will be a bit suicidal. I’m still an irredentist PDP man.”