[dropcap]A[/dropcap] few days ago news broke of how a coven decision within the fold of the APC will shape the character of the politics of that Party going into the 2019 General Elections. The decision of their factional leader Rotimi Amaechi was not much of the issue as was the brazen denial of the rights of hard working members of his faction who were all disqualified from running for office at one fell swoop just to pave the way for a greenhorn solely chosen by him, ‘The Leader’. Even that was not much of the issue as was the fact that the disqualified members were replaced by a political neophyte, who himself is the beneficiary of the clandestine sale of assets of a State he now wishes to govern in a joint venture agreement with his business associate, his very nominee and political godfather. How can this be?
The brand of politics that denies hard working people of the benefits of their struggles in building movements around which they can congregate to pursue a shared vision and mission cannot create a governmental system that rewards merit and hard work. This is the very fundamental flaw that has defined the politics of the promoters of the APC in Rivers State even before they defected from the PDP in 2014. The politics of baboons working for monkeys to chop has for long been the trademark of the APC and it offers no enduring values.
In addition, that the political system of the APC is undemocratic is not even bad enough, but that it inspires society negatively, to relegate merit and hard work to the backwaters of civilization, is just unacceptable.
This would not be the first time such brazen disdain for equity would be displayed. The minister of transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, did not only unilaterally appoint his choice for Governor for Rivers State Dele Cole but violated the zoning arrangements within his own party by picking Oludele from the very same senatorial district and alleged ethnic stock, Kalabari, as his own factional Party chairman, Ojukaye Flag-Amachree. While this had not been done before in Rivers politics and was seen as a slap on the faces of other senatorial zones and ethnic groups within the Party especially the Ogonis, it marks a fundamental graduation of the absurd in the politics of Rivers State.
In truth, all these should not be the business of anyone outside the APC especially those like me already active in the PDP as it is the internal affair of the APC. However, since the issue of equity is the trump card of the APC in the 2019 politics of the State, every citizen is invited to analyze the principles and values of all, including political parties, that seek the votes of populace.
In establishing the incompetence of the APC to administer government, the legal principle of nemo dat quod non habet, which literally means that ‘one cannot give what he doesn’t have,’ comes quickly to mind. This is because no other Political Party in the history of Rivers politics has brazenly altered established norms and values as the APC has done in its short history. It has clearly proven to lack the capacity to promote equity within its microscopic entity; as such, cannot do equity within the Rivers macrocosm.
The Christian rule of ‘he that is faithful in little shall be added with much,’ does not therefore apply here as the APC has clearly failed to show good character when it mattered most at little but significant issues and should therefore be spewed out for defiling the land in accordance to biblical injunctions as enshrined in Leviticus 20:22.
A Political Party that disrupts elections cannot promote democracy. We must guard against the promotion of the brand of politics that limits and shackles us and embrace that which inspires, uplifts and defends us.
Oraye St. Franklyn is a barrister-at-law. He is senior special assistant to Governor Nyesom Wike on Social Media. He is a strategic communicator and good governance advocate, writes from Port Harcourt, Rivers State. He tweets from @SaintOraye. He is also on Facebook.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
