Outrage over PDP’s Appointment of Bode George as Member of Panel to Re-organise its Board of Trustees

Insideafrik
NEWS, NIGERIA

The appointment of Bode George, into a panel to re-organise the Board of Trustees of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has been followed by a barrage of criticisms.

George is an ex-convict who has spent two years in prison. A Lagos High Court convicted him in 2009 for fraud after he served as Chairman of the Board of the Nigerian Ports Authority.

The news of his appointment on the panel has been condemned by legal practitioners as well as civil rights groups who say the party had no respect for the public.

Executive Secretary of ACN and former member of the House of Representatives, Dino Melaye, said the PDP’s decision was akin to legalising corruption.

Melaye told Punch, “Almost everybody in the party (PDP) is an ex-convict, only time will tell. The party is about corruption, so corruption and corrupt persons mean nothing to them. He (Bode George) is still carrying our national honours and so you can see.”

Rotimi Jacobs, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and a counsel for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, while condemning the development, said it was an indication that the PDP was not sincere in its anti-corruption war.

“Is that how the PDP will be fighting corruption? Is that how the ruling party will fight corruption? For a party that is supposed to be fighting corruption, it is a very sad development. It is the shame of a nation.”

But for some people, his appointment is not a problem as long as he is not taking a public office. Yusuf Ali, another Senior Advocate of Nigeria told Punch that conviction cannot stop somebody from belonging to a group or a trade union.

A source within he PDP said that it was actually President Goodluck Jonathan who suggested George’s name at the meeting where the decision was taken. The source added that the President is losing followership in the South-West and other zones and is seeking for those who can work with him.

What are your thoughts on the appointment of Bode George as a member of panel to re-organise the Board of Trustees of the PDP?