Former Deputy Chief of Staff, Office of the Deputy Governor, under Governor Okezie Ikpeazu and one time Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Abia State, under Governor T A Orji Sir Don Ubani has dumped the People’s Democratic Party PDP describing his exit from the party as an “End Of One Year Mourning Of Misdeeds, Consequent Misfortune Of PDP In Abia State And Migration To A Period Of Critical Aloofness”.

See below full statement

End Of One Year Mourning Of Misdeeds, Consequent Misfortune Of PDP In Abia State And Migration To A Period Of Critical Aloofness.
By Sir Don Ubani; KSC, JP
Wednesday (Nkwo) 29-05-2024.

As a product of my Asa cultural background and heritage, I have learnt that when a beloved one passes away, a period of one year is observed as mourning for such a person.

I had the grace of being one of the 21 Political Leaders that Convened Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Abia State on 4th September, 1998. On that day, I was the first person to handle a microphone to moderate the first meeting of the Party which was held at Seabia Hotel along Aba Road at Umuahia and it was strictly for the 21 Conveners of the Party. The second meeting of the Party was held the same day in the afternoon but at Nwannedinamba Hall, also in Umuahia. I served the Party in various capacities; (1) State Ex-Officio Member, (2) State Organizing-Secretary, (3) State Financial-Secretary, (4) State Publicity-Secretary, (5) Member Presidential Campaign Council 2019, and (6) Member Publicity Committee of Presidential Campaign Council 2019.

In all the Positions I had held in the Party, there was none that I used to betray the Party, defraud or even deceive any Member of the Party. At no time did I ever make even the slightest attempt to exploit any Aspirant on the Platform of the Party. Rather, unlike the typical Nigerian Politician, I told many who had come seeking for my support that I had already made up my mind on who to support and, therefore, would not support him or her. That was why many Politicians thought I was or am still not a ‘good Politician’ and I have always told myself that if what it takes to be a ‘good Politician’ is to be a ‘wayo Man’, let me not be. My joy is that today, even the devil can not say that I ever defrauded, deceived or took undue advantage of him. That is my pride!

On the platform of PDP, I had the opportunity of holding various positions;
(1) Member Abia State Local Government Service Commission,
(2) A 2-time Special Adviser to Governor Orji Uzor Kalu
(3) A Constituency Liaison Officer to President of Senate, Adolphus Wabara
(4) Board Member, Rubber Research Institute of Nigeria, RRIN, Benin-City,
(5) Hon Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Abia State, under Governor T A Orji,
(6) Hon Commissioner for Petroleum and Solid Minerals’ Development, Abia State, and
(7) Deputy Chief of Staff, Office of the Deputy Governor, under Governor Okezie Ikpeazu.

Again, there was no second that I used any of those Offices to take any undue advantage of any person created by God. I never betrayed my Party or deceived any person. No person in life has ever had any cause to associate me with greed. It has never been and will never be part of my life.

From 1998 when the first election involving PDP was conducted to 2023 general election, I had worked very assiduously with other PDP Stakeholders to make sure PDP was convincingly delivered in my Polling Unit, my Community and Ward. While many Politicians lost in their Polling Units in the 2023 general election, ours was a clear manifestation of success in all the elections, except in the Presidential Election where I personally voted for Mr Peter Obi of Labour Party because I did not believe that Alhaji Atiku Abubakar should succeed his fellow Fulani, President Muhammadu Buhari who had dealt most wickedly with the Igbo in the eight years he had reigned as President, 2015-2023.

The disastrous outing of PDP in Abia State in 2023, did not come to me as a surprise. I foresaw it and wrote severally about it but selfishness, greed and ulterior motives or hidden agenda vehemently stood as an inhibition against my well intended pieces of advice. It is painful we performed in such an abysmal description. Those who made us to fail in such a shameful manner should not forget there is retributive justice for whatever we do as human-beings. Destroying a Political Party that they did not know when and how we formed it will remain a Judgment against them. They may feel comfortable with what they have amassed by systematically destroying PDP in Abia State, they should, however, not forget that there must be a day of reckoning. Whatever one sows, one will certainly reap!

Having traditionally mourned the Misdeeds and Misfortune of PDP in Abia State for one whole year, 29th of May, 2023 to 29th of May, 2024, which is today, Wednesday (Nkwo) 29th May, 2024, I think I have shown respect to a Party that played prominent roles in my political identification and growth.

While many persons have been defecting from the Party, including some of those who had benefitted immensely from the Party, I have decided to migrate from my 12-month mourning of the Misdeeds and Misfortune of the Parry in Abia State to what I consider as a Period of Critical Aloofness.

This period of aloofness will offer me a desired opportunity for dispassionate moments of necessary introspection. I have to ask myself certain fundamental questions, albeit rhetorical. I may not know how long this period of aloofness will last but I am sure, by God’s grace, it would be over before 2026.

Whether I will remain in PDP, leave PDP or even become apolitical, will be determined by time, circumstances, consultations and social-political dynamics.

In the meantime, I must have to thank PDP for the various opportunities it gave me, all of which I am proud not to have misused for selfish aggrandisement. Most especially, I wish to thank former Governors Orji Uzor Kalu, T A Orji and Okezie Ikpeazu for the chances they had given me which combined to give me a description of, at least, minimal prominence in the State. Above all, I am obliged to appreciate God Almighty for giving me the grace of serving altruistically and transparently, without leaving my integrity and dignity wounded in any way. In Abia State, no person, either a Politician, a Civil or Public Servant can ever say that I had at any time betrayed, deceived or defrauded him. It is the Lord’s doing!

As a courageous factual prolific Essayist and Blogger (equityreporters.ng), I will continue to write, in the overall interest of Abia State and, of course, Nigeria. A prolific Essayist can never be irrelevant in his society.

Governor Otti is ‘doing well’, even though he unjustifiably refused to appoint any Permanent-Secretary, out of the 24 he appointed in Abia State Civil Service, from my Local Government Area, Ukwa-West, and has not done any road in the Local Government Area which is the only Oil and Gas-Producing Local Government Area of Abia State. This notwithstanding, I will commend him wherever he does well and criticise him where he falls short of the People’s expectations. The development of Abia State should be and is our collective pride. Whoever that does it, deserves our collective encouragement. There is, however, an urgent need for him to have a rethink on the quantum of loans he has obtained, vis a vis their repayment schedule and eventual burden on the State. Again, for purposes of transparency and accountability, he should have a critical review of his Administration’s Expenditure Profile. Cost of running his Government, according to records made available on Abia State Government Website, is dangerously on the very high side.

Yet on another hand, for many reasons, I will give my support to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. He is a Leader that knows what he wants and he goes about it consistently, without any prevarication. As time goes on, I will elucidate further. Suffice it to say that his appointment of Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla as Chief of Naval Staff and Member National Security Council, Senator Dave Umahi as Minister of Works, the obvious endorsement of Rt Honourable Ben Kalu as Deputy Speaker of the 10th House of Representatives and behind the scene authorization he must have given for the Governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodinma, to have emerged as Chairman of Progressives Governors’ Forum have convinced me tow this path.

I hope I did not forget to thank my wife and children!
The ambience my family provides unarguably contributes to my personality. Without peace in one’s nuclear family, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to be seen as a stable character. To my good People of Umuiku-Isi-Asa, and all Asa People, it is salutation upon salutation.

Sir Don Ubani; Ihemba/ Ahaejiejemba of Umuiku-Isi-Asa Autonomous Community, Okwubunka of Asa, Oke Amadi Gburugburu and a Literary Celebrity, is a former Commissioner for Information and Strategy in Abia State and writes from his Native Asa Land beautifully situated between Aba in Abia State and Port-Harcourt in Rivers State.