How Obasanjo sent Bode George to prison – Fayose exposes

Former Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has exposed how the former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, planned for plotting and sending the former Ondo Military governor, Chief Bode George to prison.

Fayose disclosed this on Sunday while an interview with Daily Independent.

The former governor said the former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Bode George, was sent to jail due to political conflicts.

Recall that Justice Joseph Olubunmi Oyewole in October 2009, sentenced George to a 30 months jail term after finding him guilty of 47 out of the 68 charges brought against him.

The Supreme Court later overturned the judgment but he had served two years of the jail term.

On Sunday, Fayose alleged in an interview that Obasanjo was behind all the legal travails of George and planned it all from his Ota Farm residence.

He narrated that at that time, Obasanjo wanted to become the PDP BoT Chairman and felt the interest George had in becoming the PDP National Chairman would stand in his own way, hence he used the jail term to get him out of the way.

“He keeps saying I stopped him and I keep saying to him too that when I wanted to become governor in 2014, he did not support me. He worked against me. He worked with the likes of Jumoke Akindele to work against me. He worked with Dayo Adeyeye at a time. But let us be very honest, politics is all about interests. So, I don’t want to blame him,” Fayose said in an interview with Independent on Sunday.

He added that “Then I was a sitting governor. I left Ota and came to Lagos to meet him that Baba Obasanjo said he will send you to prison; that arrangement has been made for you to go to prison. He can’t deny that.

“I was in Obasanjo’s bedroom in Ota when he told me ‘that Bode, he will pay for it dearly. He will end up in prison.

“He wants to be national chairman, let’s see how he will do it’. When I heard from Obasanjo, I ran to Chief Bode George to inform him that Baba Obasanjo had insisted that Nuhu Ribadu, the then EFCC chairman should file your paper quickly, saying ‘what Bode will be facing, he will not have time for national chairman,’” he narrated.

Fayose said it was in Transcorp Hilton that crisis happened where Obasanjo and Anenih had issues and that it was because Obasanjo wanted to be Board of Trustee (BoT) chairman of the PDP and George wanted to be National Chairman.

“It was on the issue of this national chairman that sent Chief Bode George to prison. Chief Bode George wants to be national chairman; Obasanjo wants to be BoT chairman. The late Tony Anenih eventually became the BoT chairman. Obasanjo believed that Chief Bode George was going to disturb his bid that was why Chief Bode George was charged to court.”

According to Fayose, “You will see that he was exonerated at the end of the day. Most of the people out there don’t have these facts.

“So, if God has not given you the national chairmanship position that time and he has not given you this time, just know that it is not the will of God for you.”

Fayose said it is wrong for George to be accusing him of sabotaging his efforts to become the national chairman of PDP, saying events has shown that God has not destined him for the position.

“He said he gave me N250, 000. I can’t remember him doing that but even if he has given me money, I have given a lot of people contesting elections money. I have done favours to Chief Bode George when I was sitting governor. Do I come to the streets and start saying I bought Chief Bode George this and that.  That is not equally matured. Any politician saying I give this person money is a man of little mind. I don’t want to say oga is a little mind but I don’t expect oga to be saying I gave Fayose N250,000. What is N250,000?”

On the statement by Bode George that he is behaving like a greatly disturbed child, Fayose says “If Chief Bode George says that I am a greatly disturbed child, I take it as a compliment because we learned from the master. Oga Bode George trained us, we followed him in politics. So, if we are behaving like a disturbed child, he will be more like a disturbed great grandfather. If you look at his age, he ought to have retired now and that does not disrespect to him.  When I get to his age, I will stay away. I have children”.

“I think Oga Bode George is close to 80 years now, that means he is about the age of my mum. Should he and I be struggling?  He should be older than me by 18 years and I am older than Makinde by nine years.  So, when you compared the difference you will know that mine is excusable, but his is not”.

“But as a matter of principle, he is our leader and we will still consider him as that. But when you eat on the dining table and you don’t know when to retreat, stupid flies will drive you away from that dining table”.

“Chief Bode George is supposed to be the right arbiter to resolve this matter. If those languages are coming from him, then it is unfortunate. When an elder is found where they are supposed to be, there will be less crisis. If I join issues with him, I will be going out of the real issues, so, I don’t want to join issues with him”.

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