Former Peoples Democratic Party Deputy National Chairman, Chief Olabode George, on Wednesday, advised ex-Vice-President Atiku Abubakar to forget about contesting the 2027 Presidential election.
He said Atiku would have been too old at the time to govern the country.
George, who spoke with newsmen at his Lugard office in Lagos, also advised President Bola Tinubu to call a meeting of retired military officers to devise solutions to tackle the current security challenges.
He said Atiku should be like a big uncle in the room to be mentoring the younger ones instead of thinking about 2027 presidential contest.
By 2027, Atiku who was PDP Presidential candidate in the 2023 poll, would be 81-year old.
George while speaking on the presidency insisted that the PDP should be firm about zoning the Presidency of 2027 to the South.
According to him, the Northern part of Nigeria had enjoyed its eight uninterrupted years.
George also advised those campaigning for Mega Party in the PDP to quit, saying the party would not be part of such an arrangement.
“No other party is as entrenched and national in all concepts than the PDP. In 2027 I can’t tell anybody not to contest but our party must be definitive that the Presidency must remain in the South since the North has finished its eight years,” he added.
George, however, described the security situation in the country as “horrendous and heart-rending.”
He urged President Tinubu to wake up and tackle the rising insecurity, saying that he feels pity for the President for the “deluge of crises” before him.
George said the high level of insecurity had further underscored the need to have a state police and “Tinubu must not shy away from that.”
The elder statesman further urged the President to implement the 2014 National Confab report commissioned by former President Goodluck Jonathan.
“We are failing on security and I want to call on the President to invite all elders to come for a discussion. The issue of insecurity has become a national calamity,” he said.
He condemned the murder of two traditional rulers in Ekiti State and the kidnap of school pupils, describing the murder as sacrilegious.
“The President has to wake up. I pity him because he has this deluge of crises. Unfortunately he cannot complain because it is the same party that is in power,” he added.
He said the issue of insecurity can be resolved if those in power are “honest and committed,” adding, “The whole nation is in a state of quagmire. This is not an issue of APC or PDP, everybody is affected.”