A former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Bode George, has given an excuse for President Bola Tinubu’s poor performance in office in the last year.
The former military Governor of Ondo State said President Tinubu used his first year in office to study and correct the failures of the Muhammadu Buhari government.
George, a long-time foe of Tinubu, asked Nigerians to give the president one more year to deliver on his electoral promises and turn around the fortunes of the country.
Speaking in an interview on Arise Television on Friday, the PDP chieftain said even though Tinubu was part of those who formed the Buhari government, taking over and now leading the nation will be different.
He said, “He (Tinubu) had never served at that level (presidency). Well… you will say he was part of the party (APC) that formed the government (of Muhammadu Buhari), but it’s a hell of a different thing taking over and now leading the team.
“To be fair to my conscience, he has had that one-year holiday of trying to study the failures of the past administration. I have given him that one year of grace because now he has seen it and lived there.”
George asserted that Tinubu’s lack of presidential experience warrants a grace period of a year, stating that even former President Olusegun Obasanjo needed time to adjust in his first year in office.
He added, “I expect his ministers to have come back in one year with those areas of lapses. Even when Baba (Olusegun Obasanjo) became president in 1999, he was still trying to figure out what happened there or vice versa in his first year. Let’s give him more time.”
Recall that George had asked President Tinubu to restructure his economic team and tell Nigerians the country’s true situation.
He stated this on May 23, 2024, during his address to the nation titled “My Thoughts on The State of Our Country in the Last 25 Years: A Time to Chart A New Direction” in Lagos.
The PDP chieftain said Nigeria is often referred to as the Giant of Africa, but the country has not lived up to the description since the return of democracy in 1999.
He said that 25 years after the military returned to the barracks, the country could not be said to have fared well, adding that Nigeria could only regain its rightful place in the comity of nations through the collective determination of leaders and followers.
George, however, said an honest assessment of the performance of the present administration could only be done after the President had spent some more time in office.
