Highlighting lessons from past elections, former PDP Deputy Chairman Bode George has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct the 2027 polls in a manner that ensures citizens’ votes are respected and fairly counted.
Speaking on Politics Today on Channels Television, George called on INEC Chairman Professor Joash Amupitan to ensure the elections are transparent, credible, free, and fair, cautioning against manipulation in favor of any candidate or political party.
“I want to call on Mr. Amupitan and INEC to tread carefully because our nation is drowning by the hour. There should be no glitch in the system. INEC should not disgrace the nation. They should allow the choices of the people to reflect in 2027. The people’s will must prevail”, George said, referring to technical challenges that affected result transmissions in the 2023 elections.
On internal PDP matters, George lamented that some party members have distorted the party’s founding rotational arrangement, which ensures the presidency rotates between the North and the South. He accused former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and others of undermining this agreement.
He recalled that two days before the 2023 elections, the G5 group, comprising Nyesom Wike, Seyi Makinde, Okezie Ikpeazu, Samuel Ortom, and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, planned to support either Bola Tinubu of the APC or Peter Obi of the Labour Party, both from the South, against Atiku Abubakar from the North. George opposed any unilateral declaration and urged consultations across the South-East, South-South and South-West zones.
“Two days before the election, Seyi and Wike briefed us. They wanted to support Tinubu or Obi. I opposed it and told them they could not decide for the PDP alone. The people must choose, and consultations across the South were necessary”, he said.
George also criticized the ruling APC, arguing that its policies have failed to improve the lives of ordinary Nigerians. He described the wave of governor defections to the APC as driven solely by re-election ambitions and warned that the country risks drifting toward a one-party state.
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