Bode George, a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, has denied that the Labour Party (LP) governorship candidate in Lagos State, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, had an anti-yoruba agenda.
There were rumors that if Rhodes-Vivour was elected, he would hand over the state to the Igbos. He was also accused of being a Biafra apologist.
In response to claims that the LP candidate was planning to hand over power to Igbos, George insisted that such thinking was insane. The PDP leader questioned whether people expected him to abandon his own children, who are half Igbo and half Yoruba.
He questioned whether the ruling party intends to abandon all of its members in the Southeast.
He said;
It is idiocy. It is what I call existential imbecility. It is absolute insanity. Yes, his father is a Lagosian, a Yoruba man. His mother is an Igbo woman. Is that the first time we are having that in Lagos? I have children, who are half Yoruba, half Igbo. Am I going to throw them away?
What name do they bear? Don’t they bear my name? If their mother gives them an Igbo name, what is wrong with it? They speak Yoruba and bear my name. Those promoting this bigotry will now say they are not Yoruba. It is so cheap. The most annoying thing is that their leader is saying he wants to go to the centre to rule Nigeria. He shouldn’t take these people along with him.
Would they denounce all the APC members in the South-East? Is that the culture of APC as a party? That is senseless talk. These are not the kind of characters this country needs at this particular time. It is dangerous. I am surprised one of them has not been fired.
A sensible person would have fired that fellow for making the statement because he is heading to Abuja. How many tribes, how many languages, and how many dialects do we speak here? Nigeria is a multi-religious and multi-ethnic country. One of those who made the statement in his capacity as the spokesperson for their leader is from Ijebu. What is he doing here? I don’t know the school he went to.