Former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Timi Frank has carpeted former Deputy National Chairman (South) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode George over his statement that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar would not be President in 2027.
Frank in a strongly worded statement on Thursday lambasted George for his renewed love as a self-appointed spokesman of President Bola Tinubu despite his vow to leave Nigeria if Tinubu becomes president.
George was an anti-Tinubu campaigner and became vociferous when Tinubu picked the APC ticket ahead of the election. He swore that Tinubu would not be president and that, if by virtue of divine providence, the contrary happened, he would leave Nigeria.
He has since staged a volte-face and has become a self-appointed spokesman of the president calling for patience to enable the president to arrest the rot he met in office.
The once strongman of the PDP had joined forces with the anti-Atiku camp ahead of the 2023 presidential election with calls for a southern president after President Muhammadu Buhari.
He teamed up with the five governors on the platform of the PDP called G-5 to oppose Atiku’s candidacy and ensured he was defeated in the election.
He has remained unapologetic over his pre-election stance on Tinubu even though he said he remains a PDP member, insisting that Atiku must wait till 2031 if he wants to contest again for the position of president.
Frank however reminded George that he lacked the power to determine who becomes the president in 2027 as he’s not God.
The United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) Ambassador to East Africa and the Middle East, asked, “How can a man living at the mercy of the Supreme Court assume the position of God?”
He recalled that “a Lagos High Court had, in 2009, convicted George, who was also former chairman of the Nigerian Ports Authority, and five others on a 23 counts charge of abuse of office and contract splitting. He was discharged and acquitted by the Supreme Court in 2013.
“How can a mortal, probably already at the departure lounge as it is common to all mortals, claim to know the outcome of political events that are still very remote?
“I don’t think George can even raise his voice on state matters at this time because he is not qualified, his acquittal by the apex court notwithstanding,” the former APC deputy spokesman said.
He reminded, “This is a man who swore that President Bola Tinubu will not win the 2023 presidential election. This is a man who vowed that he will renounce his Nigerian citizenship and go on self-exile to Ghana if Tinubu becomes President and watch Nigerians from his ‘binoculars’ from that neighbouring West African country.
“This is a man who said on Arise Television interview in 2022 that he can bet any amount of money on Tinubu not having educational certificates.
“As far as Nigerians are concerned, George is no longer a Nigerian by reason of the fact that Tinubu is President,” he said adding, “Let him enjoy his newfound home instead of attacking Atiku as a ploy to walk his way into Tinubu’s heart apparently for crumbs now that he appears hungry and politically forgotten and empty.
“Let George publicly apologise to Tinubu for his 2023 political misjudgments in order for the President to probably forgive him so he can enjoy the kind of patronage for which he thinks undermining Atiku and his party (PDP) will make available to him.”
He stressed that “If God says Atiku will be President in 2027, a thousand Olabode George living on Supreme Court’s magnanimity cannot annul it.
“Besides, George has never supported Atiku in any election but he has always won his primary and emerged as the candidate of the PDP.
“Let him rest easy, Atiku’s hope for the future is on God and the generality of Nigerians and not on George and his ilk now seeking patronage and political relevance from the powers be by taking up the role of a fake prophet.”