IT was former Senate President, the late Dr. Chuba Okadigbo, who once said that it takes political sagacity to understand political arithmetic. Many Nigerian politicians, especially men of yester years, have failed to learn from this adage of the late renowned political scientist cum politician, while engaging in partisan politics. They rather still live in self-delusion, believing that anything is possible in Nigerian politics in as much as you can bribe your way through. But they easily forget that devil thrives where good men do nothing.

The scenario captures the events that transpired between former governor of Abia State, Chief Orji Uzor Kalu and the members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Abia State, recently, which culminated to Kalu's recent, sudden withdrawal from the Abia North Senatorial seat race.

Since late 2010, when Kalu lost out in power struggle in Abia State against his successor, Chief Theodore Orji, he had made several attempts to return to the PDP through the backdoor, but had always met the brick wall, due to his failure to do the needful and swallow pride. In 2010, the PDP national leadership led by its then national chairman, Chief Okwesilieze Nwodo came to Umuahia to plead with Governor Orji to return to PDP because the party needed him; a plea Governor Orji acceded to after consultations. Kalu became rattled and quickly rushed to the PDP national secretariat in Abuja to pay Nwodo unsolicited visit and announced his return to the PDP. This development got Abia PDP stakeholders angry for they have been nurturing the party since 2006 when Kalu abandoned it to form his own party, Progressives Peoples Alliance (PPA).

The stakeholders hurriedly stormed the party's national secretariat in Abuja and protested Kalu's acclaimed return to the party without due process. They insisted that they prefer to work with Governor Orji who is more accommodating, valuable and humble. Following the protest, the party leadership in its wisdom acceded to their demand, and advised Kalu to go back to his ward and state and reconcile with the party stakeholders. Typical of Kalu, he ignored the party leadership's admonition and continued to put out himself as a member of PDP in the state without being part of any party meetings at the state, zone or national level. Instead, he continued the political grandstanding and leveraged on his newspaper to unleash media war on the party elders in the state including his successor, Governor Orji and his family. He called them names, blamed them for his political ordeals, and took on his successor, his family and government consistently on pages of newspaper. When it dawned on Kalu before the 2011 elections that Abia PDP was not ready to embrace him, he quickly fell back on his PPA, under which platform he contested the Abia North Senatorial seat in 2011 and lost.

With the emergence of Alhaji Bamanga Tukur as the national chairman of PDP, Kalu continued to parade himself as a member of PDP telling anybody who cared to listen that Tukur had assured him of his membership of the party. Sometimes in 2012, he even reportedly brandished a PDP membership card on newspaper pages, claiming it was issued to him by the party executives in his ward; a claim the party leadership in the state led by its Chairman Senator Emma Nwaka refuted, stressing that Kalu was not a member of PDP. With Tukur's ouster and emergence of former governor of Bauchi State, Alhaji Adamu Muazu as his successor, Kalu increased his tempo of criticisms on Gov Orji and his government, seemingly seeking to portray him as a failure in governance. He continuously praised President Jonathan and his government on the pages of newspaper, as if to attract attention and sympathy. He also continued to find fault in his successor, a clear case of calling a dog a bad name to hang it, and considering that Governor Orji, with glaring challenges, outperformed Kalu in office. Banking on the false promise by some acclaimed political heavyweights in the party, Kalu purchased the PDP senatorial form.

Few days to the screening of the party's national assembly aspirants, a story, which turned out to be fabricated, was sponsored in some national dailies that the national leadership of the party had granted Kalu special waiver to contest the Abia North senatorial seat. The National vice chairman, Southeast zone of the party, Col. Chris Akobundu (rtd) issued a disclaimer insisting that there was never such a waiver, because Kalu was not yet a member of the party. That was the final straw that broke the camel's back for Kalu. He was neither screened in Umuahia nor Abuja as a senatorial aspirant of PDP for Abia North zone. Why was he not screened if he was truly granted special waiver by the party's national leadership as he claimed?



In a soft-landing tactics to save face, Kalu recently wrote an open letter to the national chairman of PDP announcing his withdrawal from the senatorial race and demanding for a refund of the money he paid for the form. Kalu attributed his action to his successor, whom he accused of preventing him from returning to the PDP.

But, which withdrawal was Kalu talking about, and what refund was he asking for? How would somebody who was not qualified in the first place to enter a race announce his withdrawal when it was obvious that he was not qualified for the race in the first place? Again, how would such a person ask for a refund of money paid to enter the race, when he knew he was not qualified and went ahead to purchase form? Obviously, the PDP owes Kalu neither an apology nor any refund because he was never forced by to buy its product without reading through the conditions attached to it.

How the former governor could attribute his self-inflicted political woes to his successor, Governor Orji, whom he had severally described as nobody before now, is curious? When has Governor Orji suddenly become somebody to the extent of stopping Kalu from rejoining the PDP? Why has Governor Orji not stopped others in the state from returning to PDP? When did Gov Orji become the only party elder or PDP stakeholders in the state? Why is Kalu so desperate to return to the PDP? Why not try his popularity on other political platforms? Why the insistence to cohabit with people who do not want your association?

Kalu's dilemma in Abia PDP ahead of 2015 polls is a big lesson for politicians who see themselves as being above the party authority and members. It has also shown that there is no shortcut to party leadership as the present leadership of the party insisted on due process. The development is a pointer that there is limitation to freedom of association, because an organisation also has constitutional right to reject somebody from becoming its member. Having taken care of somebody who had always believed he could continue to dominate the party in the state, the Abia PDP members are now unencumbered to go into 2015 polls as a united family as they did in 2011 when they won landslide. For Kalu and his followers, it is a bitter lesson occasioned by their lack of political sagacity, which would have enabled them to understand the political arithmetic in the state. The saying that devil thrives where good men do nothing is real. Today, whatever bad political omen that was portrayed in Abia State has been nipped in the bud for the good of the state against next year's election and beyond.
Source: .com.ng

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