The Peoples Democratic Party, South-East Zone, has claimed that Gov Peter Mbah of Enugu State did not inform the party about his planned defection to the All Progressives Congress on Tuesday.
The Publicity Secretary of the zone, Engr Chigozie Igwe, stated this in an interview with THE WHISTLER on Monday.
Igwe said the zone heard about the planned defection of Gov Mbah in the media. He stated that, “Gov Mbah has not told us that he is leaving our political party. As far as we are concerned, it is a mere speculation. But even if it is true, he has his reasons. The Nigerian constitution permits that. Politics is a game of interest. Mbah is a politician. The constitution has given such loopholes.”
He however said it was not in the best interest of democracy for politicians elected in a political party to join another. He attributed it to the Nigerian factor.
According to him, “It is not good that one would win an election in one party and move with the mandate to another party. This is because on the election day, individuals are not voted for, it is the political parties under whose platforms that they contest.
“It is a very unfortunate thing, and it is not helping our political development. Political parties are very critical institutions in the polity of a country, and they should be protected by the system. It doesn’t look morally and ethically right for a party to win an election, and that victory or government is taken by another political party. I don’t know why our system allows that kind of thing. It is among the major things that are killing our political system.”
He warned against moves to make Nigeria a one-party state.
Quoting him, “Opposition parties should not be weakened by the APC-led federal government. Trying to create a one-party system will not help the country. We need to be aware that we need political parties that are strong for our country to grow to enable checks and balances in our democracy.
“What we are witnessing now is part of the failures of the APC government. APC is trying to convert everybody to one party. I don’t know what they are offering those that scramble to join it: whether it is a threat. I can’t comprehend why a governor that is not being threatened in his state should leave the platform that he used to get to power for another platform, more so when PDP is not factionalised in Enugu State.”
He said PDP was undergoing rebuilding, and would soon take the centre stage after its forthcoming convention.
Igwe said, “For us as a party, we are focused on rebuilding our party. We are focused on our forthcoming convention. I want to tell Nigerians that there is still hope. PDP still remains the only option for a better Nigeria. It is obvious today that APC has failed, and will continue to fail Nigerians. The only option now is the PDP. We promise Nigerians that we are not going to fail them. We are putting everything in the right places to reposition our party. After our convention, be rest assured that PDP will provide Nigerians with an alternative to the APC-failed federal government.”
