Former PDP governor, Ohakim leaves party, quits for now

– Former PDP governor abandons party– Ohakim says he is quitting active politics– One-time Imo state governor wants to focus on non-governmental organisationDr Ikedi Ohakim, ex-Imo state governor on Sunday August 14 announced his decision to temporarily not be involved in active participation in partisan politics. He said he would be leaving the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), theparty he was elected governor in 2007, citing impunity in the party.The former governor stated that his time would now be dedicated to mentoring and working with the youths of Imo state and Nigeria outside politics, in addition to operating his non-governmental organisation known as The Clean and Green Africa Foundation.READ ALSO:PDP Northern Elders Forum inaugurates 16-man committeeOn Sunday, August 14, the ex-governor issued a statement in which he signed himself based on the decision, which he termed as sad, but became important after the injustice in the PDP and that he could no longer be“part of this circus in the political arena for the time being.”Former Imo state governor Ikedi OhakimThe former governor said after the outcome of the 2015 general elections, he went on a number of commentaries, basically in national dailies, in which he on his own made contributions on how his party, the PDP, could re-organise itself to play the role of a viable opposition and that in doing this, at the back of his mind was the fact that though the PDP did not win the presidential election, the party had gotten sufficient firepower and experience to aid guide our democracy even out of power, and that he had thought that PDP members should make the ‘mourning’ period as short as possible, limit the blame game while waiting for another opportunity to ask the electorates for another mandate, adding that“my overall wish was, and still is, that no matter which party is in power, all hands must be on deck to make out democracy grow.”The one-time governor said his vision was for the PDP to remain strong was also the wish of ordinary citizens who, though desired a change from the status quo ante, still believed that for the needed balance, the party had to remain strong.READ ALSO:How I paid pension owed by PDP government – OshiomholeOhakim decried that the way things have been happening since April 2015 show that the PDP,“the largest party in Africa”, did not key into this general optimism.“What remained of the party’s leadership disregarded all wise counsel to seize the opportunity offered by the unexpected loss to do away with the very thing that led to the party’s defeat: Impunity. One thing led to the other and eventually, a party that was expected to gather itself together imploded. The final result was the split into two factions which have remained irreconcilabledespite wise counsels from well-meaning quarters within and outside the party; and indeed despite pronouncements of the law. Simply put, impunity took over the party even more than ever before. Nigerians have watched as leaders of the party take deliberate steps to destabilise it,”the former governor cried out..Ohakim also said even outside the party, the general political environment had not assisted with issues, pointing out that contrary to the yearnings of Nigerians, that the political class had learned the important lessons from the result of the 2015 general elections, which was that the peoples’ preference must count, the latter had returned to the old ways of election rigging and violence.“In the last one year, nearly every election has been characterised by brigandage and hooliganism. Even more curiously, the electoral empire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), became far more vulnerable than it ever had been. A commission that conducted a presidentialelection that was hailed worldwide, both in conduct and outcome, became a source of acute pain for Nigerians. In the last sixteen months, INEC has been unable to conduct any election to the satisfaction of even the most timid Nigerian. It is from one inconclusive election to another.”The PDP is in deep crisis presently as former minister of AviationFemi Fani-Kayode has lashed out at the Ali Modu Sheriff,describing him as a mole, spy and agent of destruction.