The recent decision of the former Senate President, Sen. (Dr) Ken Nnamani to join the family of a few political spent forces in the South East who have dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the wake of its 2015 electoral misfortunes was anticipated.
But greater concern is that instead of quietly leave the party, he cast aspersion on the party that made him what he is and still benefiting.
Querying whether he would have resigned had PDP retained the power at the centre, however leaving the party is a choice that has no bearing on the party as political analysts believe he cannot even win Councillorship election in his Ward.
Sen. Nnamani had in his statement titled, ‘PDP, the burden and my conscience,’ he said he was quitting politics in the interim; he did not want to stay to bury the former ruling party.
According him, “without any iota of bitterness in my heart, I have decided to disengage from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and consequently step aside from partisan politics in the interim. I wish to express my profound gratitude to the party that gave me the platform with which I attained the height I did in the politics of our country.
“How I wish the efforts I mounted with some of my colleagues (many of whom have left the party) to keep the PDP on the path of its noble vision and values had been supported by those who were privileged to be at the helm of affairs of the party, it would have been a different day for the PDP. It would have been a day of victory and pride not of defeat and shame”.
Casting aspersion on the leadership of the party, he said his committee tried to steer the party away from illegality and impropriety so that PDP can fulfill its promise of being a vanguard of Nigeria’s political and economic development. A direction defined by strict adherence to basic rules and morality in the management of party affairs. Chief of these values is respect for choice of party members in electing party candidates for elections.
“With more than half a decade of championing such a fundamental but simple idea, I regret that the PDP leadership continues to rebuff internal democracy. The party allowed itself to be blinded by hubris to believe that it will remain in power and influence for 60 years in spite of several gross missteps and grievous misnomer. We foresaw this ditch and prescribed how to avert falling into it. But we were dismissed as idealistic. Today the idealists have become realists.”
With his hypocrite, Nnamani said “I urged that this is a time to re-embrace internal democracy and principled leadership to reposition the party for new politics. We are living in different times and we need new tools, ethos and codes of conduct. We need to become a party of technocrats and professionals and not a party of mercenaries and rent seekers.
“We need to become the party of young men and women with new ideas and not a party of political dinosaurs. It is clear now that these pleas have fallen on deaf ears. Every day the crisis of confidence and the contradictions in our party deepen. We continue to lose members and morale. The rebuilding some of us had urged on the leadership is not happening. Those who led us to defeat are determined to continue to lead the party as undertakers.
“I do not believe I should continue to be a member of the PDP as it is defined today. This is certainly not the party I joined years ago to help change my country. I do not also believe that the PDP as it is managed today will provide an opportunity for me to continue to play the politics of principles and values which I set for myself as a young man on leaving graduate school and working for a large multinational in the United States in the 70s and 80s.”
Political pundits are of the view that Nnamani’s claim that he could no longer play politics of principle in the PDP is specious. He took public jabs at ex-governor Chime and told even the international community that Chime did not win the 2007 gubernatorial election. But he became Chime’s fanatic convert once his bread was buttered. He came hard on anyone who cautioned advised Chime against arrogating to himself the power over life and death. He even told the National Assembly Members to forget any 2015 ambition because Emperor Chime had so decreed or they would be committing political suicide.
Interestingly, at the end of his bracing sermons to justify his jumping out, he would have honourably also resign from Chairmanship of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission board and other juicy appointments his family members occupy under the auspices of the PDP.
The former National Auditor of PDP, Hon. Raymond Nnaji described his resignation as unfortunate, said it is another case of opportunism as he was never foundation member of PDP.
Nnaji said though it is his right to move to wherever he wishes, he should have quietly leave instead of casting aspersion on the party.
“I know quite well that it is temporal, Sen. Nnamani is heading somewhere and it is very unfortunate even when he is living he was castigating, making some allusion very dangerous one against the PDP saying that the machinery and rent seekers have taken over the party. I don’t know what he means by that. He was not a founding member of PDP in the state, he was a member of APP and it was after the first election in 1998 when they saw that APP have no footing in the state all of them decamped to PDP.
“He was APP’s senatorial candidate. But, rather than stand with the party in the time of need and help rebuild it into a strong opposition voice, he for where the pasture was greener (PDP) to become Senator in 2003; not out of any political wizardry or electoral appeal, but courtesy of the quarrel between his kinsman, Jim Nwobodo, and Jim’s political godson, Sen. Chimaroke Nnamani.
“So, Ken Nnamani appears to me a master of politics of convenience and expropriation of other people’s efforts and sacrifices others.
Nnaji believed though, the former senate president have made his mark, he wonders without PDP what would have being his lot, he cast doubt that PDP is losing Sen. Ken Nnamani. “I don’t think the PDP is losing him but probably I think he felt he has outlived his usefulness or his importance in the party, and decide to step-outside before the party decide to take drastic measure.
He blamed Sen. Nnamani for the loss of power at the centre said, he is one the people that refused to tell the party the truth, stressing that lack of internal democracy in the party caused her the unfortunate loss. “I made it categorically clear that if the contest of the presidential primary is not made open, that we have dug our grave of failure and it has happened. I have never seen a situation where you print only one ballot paper one nomination form for one person and said because he is incumbent he has option of first refusal, it has not done anywhere and that is where we started failing”.
It is because the party is having problem now that is why people who destroyed the party out of voracious are running away, Hon. Nnaji noted, however said it is good as this is the time to know the real PDP members. “What is happening now is really good to know who actually are members of PDP not the situation people masquerade when the party was flourishing and now the party is having problem all of them are giving it one name or the other”.
It is time to grow ambitious youths politically to exterminate extreme elitist elders in their political menopause stunting the political growth in the Coal City. They are bereft of political ideologies, innovation and rather they are political liabilities and rent-seekers which no party desirous of rebirth needs
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