Defection: NCP chieftain accuses Igbo politicians of lacking consistency, ideology

The Chairman of the National Conscience Party in Anambra State, Peter Okala, on Tuesday said some Igbo politicians lacked political consistency and ideology.
Speaking against the backdrop of recent defection of some leading politicians in the South-East to other political parties, Okala told the News Agency of Nigeria in Enugu that the action was condemnable.
Former President of the Senate, Chief Ken Nnamani; former Governor of old Anambra State, Chief Jim Nwobodo, and some other politicians in Enugu State defected to the All Progressive Congress at the weekend from the Peoples Democratic Party.
The NCP chairman said the movement of politicians from one party to another showed lack of clear political ideology and vision.
Okala said: “I do not know why our people are usually gullible.
“By now, the South-East people should have developed a political platform for negotiation and projection to the highest political position in the land.
“Why can’t they learn from the political consistency and strong-will of President Muhammadu Buhari, who weathered all storms and stayed in the opposition and vied for presidential elections continuously for over four times.
“Why is the Igbo man running away from building a formidable political structure as the Yorubas have continued to do all these years?”
Okala criticised Igbo politicians for trailing behind and seeking for crumbs that fell from the table.
He said: “We should be the ones dishing the food to others eating at the table.”
Okala, who contested the governorship election in the state in 2003 on the NCP platform, added: “No good is coming out of the defection of these heavyweights to Igboland since they are not carrying the people along.”
According to him, the defection shows that the defectors do not have any programme for the people but what they can get for themselves in the ruling party’s political arrangement.
He said that the movement of some of the politicians was for self-preservation, to hide in the ruling power for protection.