Former Peoples Democratic Party Deputy National Chairman Olabode George has vowed never to leave the party despite its ongoing internal crisis, dismissing claims by Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike that his faction has taken control of the party’s structure in Lagos State.

Speaking to journalists at his Ikoyi residence, George insisted the PDP remains the foundation of Nigeria’s democracy and argued that current political turmoil would never have occurred under a stronger PDP. Responding to Wike’s claims about the Lagos structure, George said Wike was mistaken, recalling past internal disputes within the party and describing himself as someone who approaches political conflict strategically rather than recklessly.

In an accompanying open letter to the Chairman of the National Judicial Council, George raised concern over a court ruling that dismissed a case brought by the party’s Board of Trustees seeking to compel the electoral commission to recognize the faction of the party led by Kabiru Tanimu Turaki in line with earlier Supreme Court and Court of Appeal judgments. He said the court instead dismissed the case as a waste of judicial time and imposed costs of 140 million naira against the Board of Trustees, calling the outcome deeply troubling given what he described as the binding nature of the earlier judgments. He urged the National Judicial Council to ensure the judiciary remains committed to upholding subsisting court judgments regardless of political pressure, describing the integrity of the judiciary as central to preserving public confidence in Nigeria’s democracy.