| Between Ohakim And Kalu The current tiff between Ikedi Ohakim, the Governor of Imo state and his erstwhile Godfather, Orji Uzor Kalu, marked by name-calling, newspaper articles by Kalu and advertorials by the Ohakim camp represents an unfair disservice to the people of Imo state which must end. The debate from that end of town should be about development efforts and the people's interest, not differences between the Governor and the man who claim that he made him Governor. In an article in The Sun, last weekend, Orji Kalu claims that he has been taking care of the Ohakim family for more than 30 years. Who cares? The source of contention is Ohakim's defection from the Progressive Peoples Alliance, the party that Governor Kalu superintends over as if it were a personal property, with two Governors in power in Imo and Abia states. Ohakim's decision to bolt from the stable and join the People's Democratic Party (PDP) is what has caused the present problem. Ohakim has acted in self-interest. He was originally a member of the PDP, but he had to decamp from the PDP in order to gain a chance in the 2007 election. Despite the domination of the Imo Assembly by PDP lawmakers, Ohakim has carried on so far as if he were a member of the PDP, forging at every turn a cordial relationship with the state legislature whose members have not hidden their support for him. They recently issued the equivalent of an ultimatum to the Imo Governor asking him to return to the PDP. It stands to reason that if Ohakim wants to keep his seat and a second term in 2011, a practical choice for him would be to oblige. Has he done anything that is illegal? The matter here would seem to have been settled in the Atiku case when as serving Vice President, he defected to the Action Congress and the Court ruled that he had not committed any crime and could run for election as President, while still serving in a PDP government. In Ohakim's case however, Orji Kalu can only raise the moral question of loyalty, sounding as he does like an aggrieved husband who has been handed a divorce note by a wife he doesn't want to lose. But what loyalty is at stake here? Loyalty to the Godfather? Both camps should save us the distractive noise. However, we should be more concerned about the weakness and underdevelopment of our political parties, driven by opportunistic Godfathers not ideology. Between 1998 and 2009, Ohakim has moved from the PDP to the Alliance for Democracy, back to the PDP, then to the PPA and now to the PDP either in search of or to avoid Godfathers. In Bauchi state, Governor Isa Yuguda has also similarly moved back and forth, including the masterstroke of a marital liaison with the First Family. In Zamfara state, Mahmud Shinkafi has moved from the ANPP to the PDP. In Ohakim's case, he had to keep leaving and returning to the PDP, because of the Godfathers who hijacked the party and who sought to impose unpopular candidates on the electorate. Ohakim's movement therefore is part-protest and part-self preservation. Political party reform with emphasis on internal democracy should minimise, if not cure this mishief. In the long run, the growth of viable political parties should help to cure the bigger mischief of an emerging one-party state. The growing impression that it is only within the ruling PDP that elections can be won bodes ill for Nigeria's democracy and the desirable value of political pluralism. Constitutional amendment as to the proper ownership of the mandate in an election, between the party and the individual should also help to eliminate the current ambiguity which promotes dirty politics.
|
# 
Your Comments
Please make The Square an enjoyable experience for everyone by refraining from gratuitous ad-hominem contributions, defamatory comments and off-topic posting. Such posts will be removed.