OPINION: Is Tom Ikimi Bound For The PDP
The long awaited National convention of the All Progressive Congress (APC) took place weeks back with various leaders emerging at different levels at Eagles Square, Abuja.
It was a gathering that was eagerly awaited due to the earlier fears being held in some quarters as regard the credibility or otherwise of the convention. Yes, the Convention has come and gone, but the news making the round is the outburst from a Chieftain of the Party and an aspirant for the Chairmanship position, Chief Tom Ikimi. Amongst his allegations were, the National leader of the party, Chief Bola Ahmed Tinubu had hijacked the Party in order for his preferred candidate Chief Odigie Oyegun to emerge as the substantive Chairman of the Party.
Chief Ikimi went as far as referring to the APC as a personal property of Ahmed Tinubu. But really, is the APC a personal property of Tinubu? I thought with the merger of 4 political parties including that of Muhammadu Buhari, the APC should be a party for all.
Is Tom Ikimi being a bad loser? If he had emerged the Party’s Chairman, would he be saying the same thing? Why are Nigerian politicians always involved in such double standards? If it favors you, due process was followed but when the reverse is the case, they will cry daylight robbery. But truly speaking how did Tom Ikimi expect to be made the APC National Chairman? Is Tom Ikimi not a man of Establishment? This was a man that dined and wined with the Government of the day and when things did not go his way, he became a progressive overnight. Imagine Timipre Sylva, the erstwhile Governor of Bayelsa state even vying for the same position.
A man that was until today a staunch PDP man justling to become the APC’s helmsman. How realistic is that? At the risk of being misunderstood, everybody is free to aspire to any office, but in politics there are positions you do not distribute to just anybody. A party’s Chairmanship position is the engine room and in most cases, the position goes to core party men. If you are in doubt, ask the players themselves. I have not met Chief Oyegun in person but looking at his antecedents from being a former Governor of Edo state down to his consistency in the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), it is difficult to ignore him over candidates whom recently strolled into the APC from the PDP.
Oyegun is not known as a perennial decamper like his rivals.The question on everybody lips now, is Chief Tom Ikimi bound for the PDP?
Listening to him days after the Convention, it remains to be seen if he would remain in the APC. You can’t be that denigrating about the supposed National Leader of your party and still remain in their fold. Should losing an election automatically mean leaving for a rival party? What happen to the politics of ideology?
Why are we lacking in principles in this clime? But to be fair to Chief Ikimi, in as much as consensus seems very common in our politics, why not do an open ballot where all aspirants go to the field and campaign and whoever wins take the prize. But opponents of this approach claimed that the system could be hijacked by money bags and with the system of winners takes all, it will promotes bad blood among the victors and losers alike.
So according to them, consensus is the way to go. But consensus has its shortcomings because it makes party Chieftains deciding everything at the detriment of those at the lower rung of the ladder. But Chief Ikimi with all his experience should also learn to be a good sportsman and hope better days would come instead of jumping from one party to another which is only a sign of desperation.
- by Clement Ogbemudia
Source: Legit.ng
