Politics can at times be a dubious game where principles are sacrificed for personal and selfish goals at the expense of the public good. Many a politician is in the game without ideals and sublime goals that will serve the common good. Former Governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose, captured this tendency when he enriched Nigeria’s political sociology with the concept of “stomach infrastructure” which underlies the reason why many people are in politics to eat Amala and Gbegiri and by literal interpretation simply means the satisfaction of one’s greed. This is what has happened and manifested among a few disgruntled and disloyal party men and women in Delta State who announced their defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC). Many observers of the political scene in Delta State have concluded that their defection from PDP to APC is not only poor calculation and poor reading of the political situation, but a leap from heaven to hell. Why will a right-thinking person decamp from PDP to APC which is the political party that has turned Nigeria into hell in the last seven years? Why would a right-thinking politician join an APC led by Senator Ovie Omo-Agege of all persons as if they don’t know his unpalatable antecedents?
The decampees by their action have shown that they lack the capacity to think clearly and make the right decision. They are not good politicians and they have never really been loyal to the party. They also lack the much-needed spirit of sportsmanship which every good and committed politician should possess. The reasons why they decamped are usually two which are that: their preferred aspirant lost the PDP primary election and that they are no longer benefitting from the Government. Are these good enough reasons for serious-minded and principle-oriented politicians to defect from one party to another? Are they saying that if their preferred aspirant had won the other people whose aspirants didn’t win should also have defected? Are they saying that they must always be in a position to feed fat on Government?
The decampees should know that for anyone of them who decamped, there are ten thousand strong, faithful, and committed PDP members who are working hard to ensure the party’s victory at the forthcoming general elections. They should also know that they heard and saw wrongly because the real leaders of the party in the likes of former Governors James Ibori and Emmanuel Uduaghan, James Manager, Ighoyota Amori, David Edevbie, and many others remain committed to the PDP and will not decamp. The decampees are small tree branches that fell off while the big trees remain rooted in the PDP. Some of the decampees had floated the Delta Unity Group (DUG) which is now in a dilemma. Who are the decampees following and who is guiding or misguiding them? They should retrace their steps and return now before it is too late. The APC is a contraption that was intended to serve a purpose and that purpose was achieved in 2015. The APC is as good as dead for those who can see beyond today. On the other hand, the PDP remains Nigeria’s most enduring and longest-surviving political party. It is also the biggest party for all times in Africa. The decampees are probably not aware of these facts. They should have a rethink and return before it is too late.
There are two political tendencies in Delta State as the elections approaches. These are the PDP and the APC. The PDP is led by Governor Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa, a consummate politician, deep thinker, and strategist who doesn’t talk much. He is calm, but resolute and has an unblemished record of public service. He is well-loved by people and he is a winner any day and has never lost any election no matter the odds. Governor Okowa is among the best three Governors in Nigeria. His emergence as the Vice-Presidential candidate of the PDP is a mark of his political dexterity. The other bloc is the APC led by Senator Ovie Omo-Agege who is more of a political scoundrel. He is a serial decampee having changed parties four times in four months. He is a boastful braggart, lacks strategy, and does not know how to choose his battles. He is heavily blemished by so many criminal activities such as fraud and forgery in America that made him to drop the name Augustine, massive stealing of Government money, stealing of mace, and too many other disgraceful acts. He should be in jail in some sane societies. He has never won any election on his own. He won his Senate election through Chief Great Ogboru whom he later betrayed. His second election into the Senate was through his begging the PDP and assuring them he would decamp to the party in 2019. He lied to the Presidency that he would win the Edo State Governorship election for the APC. He was given billions of naira, but he lost to the PDP ably marshaled by Governor Okowa.
The PDP in Delta State is well rooted in every household, streets, units, and wards. The leaders and followers are too numerous. The APC is alien. It is a hijacked vessel that will soon run aground. Who are the leaders? Where are Emerhor, Keyamo, Nwaoboshi, Kokori, Ojougboh, Ochei, Ogbuagu? They are all fed up with the party and Omo-Agege. The APC is choking and people are escaping from it. Those still clinging to Omo-Agege like Sobotie, Akpeki, Orubebe, Osanebi, have no political worth or electoral value. The bitter truth is that they all have a very poor opinion of Omo-Agege and they say it behind him.
Omo-Agege has turned out a bad politician who refused to learn basic things about politics. He is all over Delta State running his mouth like a badly brought-up child. As usual, 98% of the things he says are lies and he has reduced politics to blame game and irrational talks. He is already in panic mode knowing that he will lose the Governorship election. In case the decampees don’t know, Omo-Agege is already talking to his friends about how he will return to the PDP after losing the election.
The decampees have lost their bearing politically. They will end up as third-class members in the APC where they will taste the poison of Omo-Agege’s vindictiveness. Omo-Agege is clannish and nepotistic. He is the Senator representing Delta Central, but the reality is that he has only represented Orhomuru-Orogun in the last seven years. This man cannot be Governor of Delta State because he has no Pan-Delta Character. Omo-Agege betrayed Ibori by giving away sensitive documents to the EFFC. Omo-Agege also betrayed Ogboru and Emerhor. He also betrayed his own Urhobo people by taking the projects meant for the whole of Urhobo to his quarter in Orhomuru-Orogun. Omo-Agege betrayed Delta State for 16 years by waging war against zoning and rotational Governorship which guaranteed fairness, justice, and equity in the State. Is this the kind of person some people are decamping to meet? The decampees should think well and retrace their steps before it is too late. A word is enough for the wise.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Okpo writes from Delta State
