Former deputy national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Bode George, has appealed to members of the party not to jump ship and have faith in the party’s petition before the presidential election petition court. 

Appearing on ARISE TV on Thursday, Mr Goerge addressing the rank and file of the party, said it was too early to join in on moves by opposition parties to forge a common front towards governance which would imply that the parties have resolved the disputes that arose from the results of the February 25 presidential election. 

“The point is this, we are still in court, everybody still thinks he can win, and this one would lose, and until the courts decide who won that election, it will be a futile exercise trying to bring all sides together,” he said. 

He emphasised the need to save the party from crashing, calling on all disputing groups within the party to toe the path of the founding fathers and sacrifice, when need be, their personal ambition for the overall good of the party and the interest of the nation. 

“In fact, I want to advise those who are jumping ship now to calm down because you can hear the chairman of the APC himself coming to say publicly that the leadership in the Senate of the APC that there is a crack. When you have a problem in your house, it is better to stay in that house and resolve your problem,” Mr George stated. “This is something we can resolve. It (the party) is not a private enterprise of any individual. There are doctrines. There are laws. There are ways by which the founding fathers packaged the party. We drifted.” 

He explained that “in any human organisation, we can disagree, but we must not be disagreeable,” appealing to all sides to “let us not allow this party to go down. The founding fathers gave so much of their personal ambition to come together.” 

The PDP has not recovered from the division that rocked the party since its presidential primary. In an internal rebellion spearheaded by ex-Governor Nyesom Wike-led G5 governors, a faction of the party refused to support the candidacy of Atiku Abubakar sharing the advantage of their political clout with the opposition All Progressives Congress and Labour Party.