*Says, ‘I’ll leave PDP if Sheriff wins at S’Court’ *Applauds Ambode’s administration
SAMUEL ALONGE
Former National Deputy Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Olabode George, has faulted the arraignment of a Supreme Court Justice,
Sylvester Ngwuta, in an open court, saying it is a clear way of ridiculing the judiciary.
Ngwuta is currently arraigned before an Abuja Federal High Court over an eight-count charge of false declaration of assets.
George, who spoke during a press conference in his Ikoyi, Lagos residence over the weekend, said the Federal Government should take a cue from the western world where topmost offices in the executive, legislative and judicial arms are held in high esteem.
“I’m not saying the justice is above the law, but the right thing for the government to have done was to first of all report him to the National Judicial Council, which would probe allegations against him and determine if he should be arraigned.
“To now parade a justice of the Supreme Court before a judge of a high court, someone who was probably in the secondary school when the justice was already on the bench, is disappointing,” he stressed.
The septuagenarian politician, said the Nigerian government should learn from the American experience of the early 1970s when President Gerald Ford refused to press charges against his immediate predecessor, Richard Nixon, over the Watergate Scandal, “because of the high regards he had for the office of President.”
Speaking on the raging crisis in his party, the PDP, George said that if the chairmanship position of Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, as against Senator Ahmed Makarfi, is eventually upheld by the Supreme Court, he would quit the party.
“I will simply remove the PDP flags in front of my house, shut my doors to PDP activities and quit politics.”
He stressed that without prejudice to the ongoing suit on the leadership of the PDP at the apex court, he stood on the side of the party’s constitution.
Speaking further, George also applauded the performance of the Lagos State governor, Mr. Akinwumi Ambode, in the last two years.
“Honestly speaking, I don’t know the young man Ambode as such, but with the physical evidence of his achievements in the last two years, I’m more than convinced that Lagos has got the right man as governor.
“Without sentiments, everyone knows that he has performed far more than what his predecessor did, all within two years; he has exceeded the expectation of the average Lagosian in terms of physical achievements, a feat which is yet to be matched.
“Go to Epe, Lekki, Ikoyi, Lagos Island, Yaba, Abule-Egba and even, Berger, to mention a few; his achievements cut across virtually every nook and cranny of the mega city.”
“Are we talking about major road projects, flyovers, canal dredging and erosion control? Take a look at newly commissioned major roads in Lekki-Ajah and Abule-Egba, and the modern pedestrian bridge at Berger, the young man has impressed everyone,” he commended.
He added that as a Lagosian, he was proud that Lagos State at 50’s celebration is taking place under an achiever governor, who has completed projects to parade as anniversary gifts to the citizenry.
He called on all Lagosians to cooperate with the Ambode administration, stressing, “As a former career civil servant who has seen it all, he knows where the shoe pinches; this is apart from the fact that he is somebody who has lofty programmes to execute.
The politician, who was at a time the military administrator of Ondo State, said the Ambode phenomenon reminded him of the Chief Obafemi Awolowo era in the Western Region, when the region leaped ahead of other parts of the country in terms of infrastructural development.
George, however, stressed that his commendation of the Ambode administration should not be misconstrued to mean that he was planning to defect from the PDP to the APC, saying, “When you see a good performer in the public service, you must acknowledge the person’s efforts.”
He said the PDP in Lagos would shop for a candidate with similar qualities with Ambode, ahead of the 2019 governorship election.