From Mr. John Nwaninweze
Before the 2023 general elections, PDP was Enugu and Enugu was PDP. The performance, presence and dominance of PDP were not in doubt. The party had held sway in the state since 1999 and had not disappointed the people. Their giant strides and footprints in the state are glaring and numerous. Perimeters to judge or assess their performances is obvious.
Ahead of the 2023 general elections, the PDP was the most beautiful bride in the state. Virtually every aspirant had wanted to fly the party’s ticket for all the elective positions. There was a great rush for the party’s primary election forms. Many party aspirants bought forms for different elective positions in a manner that was unprecedented and worrisome. Every of the aspirants had delusional sense of entitlement and expectation that he or she was the most competent and qualified to win or be chosen at the primaries.
Lo and behold, the PDP primaries were conducted. Winners emerged, and many aspirants lost out. While some of the failed aspirants and their supporters angrily and openly defected to Labour Party, hoping to capitalize on the bandwagon effect of the presidential candidate of the LP, Mr Peter Obi to win elections, many of them stayed back in the PDP, traded away their conscience and loyalties and played the spoilers and moles’ roles on the election day by openly working against the PDP, with absolute confidence and erroneous impressions that Labour Party will win all the elections in Enugu State.
They became more confident, arrogant, sure-footed, and daring, especially in Enugu North Senatorial zone after the National Assembly elections in which Labour Party won majority seats. Some PDP members and loyalists became confused and undecided after the National Assembly elections, following pressures on them to abandon their party and move over to the Labour Party.
While some jumped ship for selfish benefits, many PDP members stayed back, damned the consequences, worked, and fought with their lives and resources for the party’s victory in the governorship and House of Assembly elections. Fortunately for them, their loyalties and impregnable efforts paid off as PDP won the governorship election and many House of Assembly seats to the shock, surprise and disappointment of those who defected to Labour Party and those who stayed back in the PDP, but worked against the party’s success in the elections.
Since Governor Peter Ndubuisi Mbah took over office and formed his government, PDP has recovered many seats at the Appeal Court, which included majority seats in the House of Assembly and some National Assembly seats as well. These PDP Snakeholders and traitors who masquaraded and camouflaged as genuine PDP leaders and members include serving local government Chairmen, Councillors, State and National Assembly Members, Commissioners, Permanent secretaries, Heads of parastatals and agencies. They actively and pretentiously participated in all the electioneering campaigns and chorusing PDP in the day and working for the opposition in the night.
Unluckily for them, Mbah’s style of leadership is a clear departure from the previous administrations. The status quo has been disrupted, and it is no longer business as usual. These Snakeholders and the Comrades are in a fix and alienated. Politics has been given a back seat for now, and those who had survived on it over the decades are jobless, daunted, and worried.
Even the moles, traitors and spoilers in the PDP, who overtly and covertly worked against the party’s success in the 2023 elections have been shamelessly and imaginatively adducing and deducing reasons for the PDP’s poor outing in Enugu State in the elections, all in a bid to justify their betrayals, backstabbing and treachery.
What they fail to realize is that nothing is hidden under the sun. Not only that, these unstable characters worked against the PDP, they bragged about it and thumbed up their chests. They had prepared how to deal decisively with loyal PDP members, and leaders had it been they had their ways in the elections. Their gimmick of apportioning blames to the immediate past administration in the state, Obi’s presidential ambition and aftermath of the PDP primaries for PDP’s poor outing in the elections is another joke taken too far and lies from the pit of hell. If that was the case, how did those who won their wards and polling units for PDP in the same circumstances manage to achieve it, if not sincerity, commitment, and utmost loyalty to the party?
Meanwhile, there were no genuine Labour Party members in Enugu State before elections, apart from disgruntled and treacherous PDP members who sold out during the 2023 elections, out of anger, envy, conspiracy and rabid hatred, forgetting that God gives and takes power.
Having been gradually dawning on the accidental Labour Party opportunists and treacherous PDP Snakeholders that PDP has regained and still regaining dominance and prominence in Enugu State, which will be completed with Governor Mbah’s expected victory at Supreme Court, these traitors are now preaching phantom reconciliation and total integration of the PDP members in the state with ulterior motive of benefitting from the forthcoming change of guard in the local government and appointments into Mbah’s government.
This is where Governor Mbah and PDP leaders should be wary of these traitors and moles, who worked and wished PDP failure and extinction in the 2023 elections, only to make a volte-face now to seek forgiveness, reconciliation and integration. Recognitions and rewards should be given to loyal PDP members, who stood their ground in the face of daunting challenges to ensure the party’s victory in the 2023 elections.
In party politics globally, party’s supremacy is sacrosanct, and loyalty to party is total and unquestionable. Dissidence in the party is punishable. Those who are clamouring for reconciliation and integration in Enugu PDP without separating the rice from the chaff don’t mean well for the party’s survival, reinvention and growth. They want to reap where they didn’t sow.
Any reconciliation and integration in Enugu PDP that is not anchored on truth, sincerity and fairness will amount to exercise in futility and peace of grave.
After all, ahead of 1999 presidential election that produced Chief Olusegun Obasanjo as Nigeria’s president on PDP platform, former vice president, Alex Ekwueme now late was a foundation member of the G34 that metamorphosed into PDP. Ekwueme was coasting home to emerge as the PDP presidential candidate in 1999 before the retired military personnel led by General Ibrahim Babangida and their civilian cohorts led by Chief Anthony Anenih and Chief Sunday Afolabi, both late now, suddenly drafted Obasanjo into the presidential race and hijacked PDP platform for him with financial support from the retired military generals mainly from the North.
Despite Ekwueme’s conspiratorial and humiliated loss of the PDP’s presidential ticket in 1999, he remained loyal and dedicated to the party. Even after trying his presidential ambition on the party’s platform and lost again in 2003, Ekwueme remained loyal to the PDP until he retired from active politics before his demise.
The Ekwuemes in Enugu PDP must be recognized and rewarded first before the political traitors and prostitutes, who after benefitting enormously from the PDP, ditched and betrayed the party in the last general elections for selfish reasons that have boomeranged and they are now running from pillar to post for political relevance and survival. The Ekwuemes in Enugu PDP who have no names before 2023 general elections, but worked hard for the party’s success should be made to have names.
Finally, the greatest tragedy that befell the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Enugu State in 2023 general elections that led to their loss of some State and National Assembly seats was the PDP Snakeholders’ conspiracies, double standards and betrayals. The moles in the PDP were PDP members and chieftains, who were the greatest beneficiaries of the party-led governments at all levels and sold out to oppositions in 2023 elections.
These Enugu PDP traitors and moles who pretended and presented themselves as “saints” to hoodwink some gullible and susceptible characters, peddled and deployed every vices including diabolism, propaganda, defamations, name calling, lies, libels and others to destroy Enugu PDP candidates and members before and during the 2023 elections.
If they have anything called character, conscience or integrity they should have buried their heads in shame and dare not talk, preach or agitate for their integration and reconciliation into Enugu PDP without restitution and reprimand. The best bet for them is to show remorse and be playing second fiddle to the genuine and committed PDP members, pending when their loyalties to the Enugu PDP are tested and confirmed. Even though the leopard is not known to change its colour and one cannot learn how to use left hand in old age. Thank God that Governor Mbah’s government has taken off with overwhelming and massive infrastructural development and giant strides that will soon put the state on the global economic map and as well provide enormous democracy dividends for the people. This will be a great leap, considering the fact that the best form of politics is provision of adequate democracy dividends that will make and convince the people to support and defend the government in power that provided and is providing them. This is especially now that the power to make choice in an election resides fully with the people and not the stakeholders per se.
