Bode George, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) Board of Trustees, expressed his strong displeasure over the sealing of the party’s national secretariat by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) due to unpaid ground rent.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Tuesday, George found it particularly distressing that the action was carried out under the authority of FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, who is himself a member of the PDP.
Officials from the FCTA had sealed the PDP headquarters, also known as Wadata Plaza, in Abuja on Monday.
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This was part of a larger enforcement drive involving the revocation of 4,794 properties for non-payment of ground rent, with arrears ranging from 10 to 43 years.
Government institutions, corporate organizations, and individuals were also affected.
Following intervention from President Bola Tinubu, defaulters were later given a 14-day grace period to settle their outstanding ground rents, along with associated penalties.
However, the PDP chieftain argued that Wike, as a loyal PDP member, should have personally paid the debt and then sought a refund from the party, rather than allowing the secretariat to be sealed.
He said, “We were told we had not paid ₦7 million and so, we defaulted on the ground rent. The painful part of it is that the minister is also a member of our party. They waited until the day we were to hold our NEC meeting to shut down the place.
“Talking as an African, culturally, let us look at it as his father’s house where he grew up, where he went to school and became a public personality. What do you do to pay back that family?”
“What is ₦7 million? He should have just said to them, ‘Okay, ₦7 million, I’ll pay from my pocket. Take the receipt back to the party’s secretariat. You see, you people are foolish.
“‘I’m completely committed to this house; I am completely loyal to this house. I will not decimate it. This is the receipt, give me back my money.’ That is what you call a true son of that family,” he added.
He stated that Wike, having significantly benefited from the PDP through various political appointments, should have demonstrated his true loyalty to the party by settling the debt himself.
“I call him (Wike) my political son. He was, on his first political outing, elected on the platform of this party as a local government chairman. Later, he became Chief of Staff to an elected governor of this party, then (former) President (Goodluck Jonathan) appointed him as a minister of state for education in our party, then became a governor for eight years on the platform of this party,” he added.
However, George pointed out that the PDP wasn’t the only political party with outstanding ground rent; the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) also owes such payments.
He said, “I was shell-shocked and I can tell you publicly now that whatever building that the APC is holding in Abuja, if you go to that house, you will find out that they are owing millions. So, why select?
He also conceded that the PDP made a mistake by failing to meet its financial obligations.
“When you are running a political organisation, you have the good, the bad, the ugly, and all sorts of characters are there, and people are bound to make mistakes,” he added.
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