I’m Waiting For Tribunal’s Verdict Before Leaving Nigeria – Bode George

.. considers relocating to Togo, Ghana

A former Deputy National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Bode George has said his decision to leave Nigeria for a choice location abroad should Bola Tinubu wins the presidential election has not changed after his victory at the poll held nationwide on February 25.

George said he would wait for the outcome of the presidential election petitions tribunal before leaving the country.

Speaking during a monitored interview on Channels Television, George said it is his inalienable right to live anywhere he choose to reside in the world.

He said he can relocate to Nigeria’s West African neighbours like Ghana, Cotonou in Benin Republic and Lome in Togo if he isn’t satisfied with the incoming administration of the President-Elect, Bola Tinubu.

Asked whether he still nursed the thoughts of going on exile, George said, “I didn’t hide my feelings: I said if this fellow (Tinubu) becomes the President, I will lose my interest politically.

“I have the right as a Nigerian to live anywhere I want. And I am saying it publicly that I am ready to retire from partisan politics. This is my own personally conviction that they don’t have the capacity, the ability to run this nation.

“I am not a young man anymore. If I am not satisfied with the way things are going, I have a right to go and stay anywhere I want to live for the rest of my life and play with my children and grandchildren.”

The PDP chieftain said he is not concerned about himself but bothered about young people. He lamented that President Muhammadu Buhari did not fulfil his promise to leave a legacy of free and fair elections, saying that the electoral umpire did not translate the results of the February 25 poll electronically as promised.

“I haven’t committed any offence that can debar me. I can go to Lome to live. I can go to go Cotonou. I can go to Ghana. I can even go to Iceland. I can go to anywhere I want. With my green passport and my credibility and worthiness, I can live anywhere. I am just bothered about the younger generation,” he said.

Recall that George had earlier vowed to leave Nigeria if Asiwaju Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, APC wins the presidential election held February 25.

But, Tinubu won the election as announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission and George still insists on relocating to another country.

George said, “I am almost 80 years old, I can decide to live the rest of my life in peace. Remember, I was in the Navy, I have been in almost all parts of the world, and I can still decide to go back to any place and live my life in peace; a place where water, electricity, security and food would be available;

“…that is all I need for my children and grandchildren to be well. All I need to do very soon is to quit and get out of partisan politics because all of my 25 years I have been struggling, fighting, trying to make this country work.

“When I will go, I will decide, that’s my choice. The game is not yet over. We are going to wait on the outcome of the judiciary. I have relations here, it doesn’t mean I will never come back to Nigeria. If I said I am going to be out, that I am not going to be here, am I going to look for another job now? Nobody will employ me now,” he said.