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Gov. Wike in one of his public statements confirmed that the Benue State Governor and his Abia State counterpart convinced him to run for the PDP presidential primary election. This he said informed his commencing his presidential run from Benue and concluding it in Abia. Indeed, he ran a good race. I was impressed by the energy and drama he brought into the contest. I admired him for his courage and had said so both privately and publicly. Without Wike, the contest would have been uninspiring. I also insist that Wike has a future in PDP post 2023.
In politics, winning is everything. It’s either you win or you lose. There is nothing like coming second or third. Even though I had no stake or vote to have contributed in the delegate election, deep down my heart, I prayed that Wike win and he almost won. When the final votes were counted and Atiku declared winner, I saw Wike go over to Atiku and congratulate him. I there and then concluded in my heart that he is a sportsman who understands that no matter your private ambition, the country and party loyalty come first.
Since the PDP presidential primary election, there has been an obvious disquiet in the party particularly after the nomination of the vice-presidential candidate. Chieftains like Ortom reared up their heads distancing themselves from the flag bearer. Ortom who wanted to choose a room and bed mate for the flag-bearer couldn’t hide his preference and disdain for Okowa. He began to stoke the fire of dissent rather than help heal the bruises and wounds suffered by the party as a result of the open primary. He made statements that implied that he would not support the party.
I want to ask these simple questions: At whose discretion did he Ortom choose his deputy governor? Who foisted the deputy on him? I know he might have received some kind of suggestions, recommendations and advice, but at whose table does the buck stop when it came to his choice of deputy governor?
PDP can easily win the 2023 election because APC has beaten all records of failure and has nothing to tell angry Nigerians. The party’s insensitivity in fielding a Muslim-Muslim ticket made their case even worse before the people. This doesn’t mean the ruling party is a complete write off in 2023.
They have resources and structure to muster millions of votes and with the right strategy can still retain power which will leave me sad and depressed. But for PDP to post a win, they need to get their act together. They need to get their base energised and they need to push harder to recover and overtake. They need to settle their rifts. If they continue to allow political hacks to distract them, they will discourage their members, dampen morale and possibly lose the election. My own reading of the political landscape today indicates that Labour Party is on the verge of becoming the major opposition party while APC and PDP are lumped together as one.
Both Ortom and Wike have made PDP weaker by their body language and very discouraging utterances. It does appear that their agenda is to destroy PDP from the inside rather than help the party win. That is so much love from someone who claimed to have loved the party and had invested heavily in its sustenance. I can only but liken both men to a man that is dating a lady and after a long period of date, rather than propose marriage, walk up to the partner and say, ‘I love you so much my darling. I can die for you and do anything for you and would want to spend the rest of my life with you, but there are some aspects of your character and life I would like you to discard.’ That’s a strange way to love! It’s either you love your spouse unconditionally or you don’t love her enough to be with her. Love is blind to fault.
PDP is not a perfect party and no political party is perfect. If you are a member of a party, you have a duty to help the party win and not to talk down on the flag bearer and hard-working men and women who are your supporters, who believe in their hearts that their votes will help you win.
I wish to ask Wike and Ortom, what’s your agenda? What’s stopping you from getting over the primary loss and get out there and fight for the party you claimed to love so much. Ortom, would you rather sit by and watch helplessly as APC, the party that impoverished and destroyed the peace and security of your people retain power in 2023 just because you don’t like the fact that Atiku is the presidential flag bearer and exercised his discretion of choosing an Igbo and Christian brother as his running mate? What do you want? Maybe you are content to leave Atiku and Okowa dry and fend for themselves? If this is your goal, then summon the courage to leave the party or better still make peace and fight for your team.
Every seasoned politician understands the game of politics as a game you either win or lose. When you win, you have a moral duty to be magnanimous in victory by reaching out to the losers and seek their cooperation. Whereby you fall on the other side as a loser, it’s equally your responsibility to leak your wounds, support the winner and move on as a team
But why are those that lost in the PDP free and fair primary hyperventilating about their loss? Why are they so angry by the outcome of a contest they know from the onset will have one clear winner? Being disgruntled and reckless to the extent of wanting to destroy the house you built because there is a crack is not how to be a good party man. Those who towed this path of scattering their own party had always lived to regret their disappointing act.
However, in Nigeria where party politics is played without ideological leaning, whimsical gerrymandering by some reckless people is not shaming enough. The character of good politician is not about being an angry and disgruntled loser but keeping the party strong and united to achieve its core objective of winning election and establishing a government.
Political gerrymandering is the reason people see all the political parties as the same and small parties being a threat to major parties. I have personally reviewed all the major candidates in this upcoming election and the only one that seemed prepared to lead and with the character to unite, secure the country and build it back to prosperity is Atiku Abubakar. His personal life and accomplishments transcend religion and ethnicity. He is one leader whose mother, father, wives, children touch all sections of this country. I have no doubt in my mind that as a leader he will be able to recover our social cohesion and restore people’s trust and confidence in the country.
I acknowledge that so far, the most excited passionate base is the Labour Party. Their single biggest problem is that they seem to be populated by dangerous extremists who think the best way to seize the leadership of the country is to destroy it first.
2023 is PDP’s election to win for the reason that APC in the past seven years took Nigerians to hell and back. Everyone is tired and fed up with the incompetent leadership of the party.
