By Sheddy Ozoene,
All through the last Yuletide, the grapevine in Enugu State was abuzz with speculations that Barr. Chijioke Edeoga, the Labour Party (LP) state governorship candidate in the 2023 election, was getting restless watching political actions from the sidelines.
Speculations centred on his possible move away from the party on which platform he came close to becoming the state’s helmsman, to either the All Progressives Congress (APC) that holds sway at the federal level or the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that was his nemesis in 2023.
Reports of his closed door meetings with leaders of the PDP in the state did not raise many eyebrows, and neither did his picture, which surfaced online with the state chairman of the APC, Barr. Ugochukwu Agballah and the Hon. Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Hon. Uche Nnaji.
Those who have followed his political trajectory in the past 2 years were prepared to swear they were mere pieces of propaganda.
That was until the event of Friday, January 31, 2025, gave flesh to the rumor when he hosted officials of the state PDP exco in his Enugu home.
The reality is that after evaluating the state’s political landscape and its changing dynamics, Edeoga appears to be considering dumping the LP for a new political platform.
The PDP visit was so well choreographed to massage his ego and provide him good reasons to decamp. In political parlance, it is called ‘soft landing’.
The team led by the state PDP Chairman, Martins Chinweike, explained that they were there on behalf of Governor Peter Mbah to ‘beg’ Edeoga to return to the party.
“We’re at the residence of His Excellency, Hon. Chijioke Edeoga…we’ve had a lot of discussions before now and today, we have come to consult with him and he’s very satisfied with our visit…I believe, from what he told us that we are going to have him back in the party.”
That to me was the clincher. Nothing can be more compelling than for a politician to be so openly ‘begged’ by a state governor.
Though Edeoga promised to respond to their request after consulting his supporters, one can correctly predict the outcome of the ‘consultation’.
Indeed, what transpired on Friday, January 31, was more of an engagement party between a beautiful political bride and the preferred suitor, the Peoples Democratic Party.
It should suffice at this point, therefore, to try making sense of the factors that brought Edeoga to this threshold.
To many, his possible political move sounds distasteful. Why would he abandon that platform that gave him fame and which became a rallying point against the PDP in Enugu State?
A good question, I dare say, except it brings us to another question: What other options does the man have? Events of the past 20 months have left him with only two options: to either stay back and languish in a party that has lost its soul or to seek new political adventures elsewhere. If he chooses the latter, the reasons are not far-fetched.
While opposition politics is essential for democracy, it has been difficult for him in the LP which now lacks basic organizational strength.
Like the fish that started rotting from the head, the once vibrant platform that was energized by Peter Obi in 2023 has become so debilitated by a festering leadership crisis at the national level which has weakened its structures down to the states, local government areas and the wards.
The scenario in Enugu State is even more pitiable as the party has become a shadow of itself in spite of its heroics in the last election.
Most of the 14 members elected as lawmakers to the state assembly have since decamped into the ruling PDP with only 6 of them still in the Labor Party.
For a man who left the PDP for the LP, Edeoga has found himself abandoned in the party and increasingly isolated from the two ends of the state’s political divide.
After a bruising electoral contest in which he was sapped psychologically and financially, he was ill-positioned to mount any strong opposition; the party’s elected officials who could have provided momentum, found it more expedient to join the ruling party in the state.
At the federal level, as many as 3 of the members in the House of Representatives, namely Barr. Cyriacus Umeha (Ezeagu/Udi) Hon. Sam Atu (Enugu North/Enugu South) and Hon. Chidi Obetta (Nsukka/Igboeze South) are believed to be aligning towards the APC.
So, who are still in the LP for Edeoga to consult? There are very few, indeed, and his promise to first consult his party leaders before giving the PDP a response was simply to fulfill all righteousness. The once-bubbling camp of the Labour Party in Enugu State has become deserted.
If indeed the speculation is true that he plans to defect to the APC or PDP, the big issue will be the moral question. It will be viewed as betrayal of the party that gave him the platform to challenge for the governorship in 2023.
For the thousands who viewed LP as a movement for political change, supported his ambition and braced the odds to vote for him, defection will smell like opportunism —using the party for personal gain and discarding it when convenient.
They would view him rightly or wrongly as a man who lacks credibility, one who prioritizes personal ambition over party loyalty.
But that will be one side of the coin.
In politics, ideological consistency is important, but so is political realism. The party Edeoga went into the contest with is no longer what it is today, and in the awkward position he finds himself today, his survival has become the overriding issue.
As the doctrine of political relevance emphasizes, a politician must remain active, strategically positioned, and influential to stay relevant. Idealists would always view it as detestable, yes, but that is the reality.
For a man who has been abandoned by the many elected officials on the party’s platform, Edeoga’s staying power must be running low, and he now runs the risk of fading into political obscurity and irrelevance.
In any case, has he been any use to the thousands of supporters who pinned their hopes – politically and economically – on him, and whom he is increasingly unable to cater for?
Edeoga finds himself at the crossroads and I don’t envy him a bit. While opting for the APC could position him for a strategic appointment at the federal level where he once served as a senior aide to former President Goodluck Jonathan, the attraction to the PDP is more compelling, obviously.
The rumour is thick in the air that the PDP ticket for the Enugu East Senate for 2027 is already being dangled in his face. If that is true, it becomes much easier to picture him returning to the PDP, a platform which will allow him to rebuild old relationships and position himself as a key player in the party’s future.
It’s a choice between the symbolism that the Labour Party represents and the tangible opportunities of political relevance – the lifeblood of any politician’s career – that PDP now offers.
Most Nigerian politicians who faced similar situations before now, afraid they would end up in the political wilderness, followed their heads rather than their hearts.
The more reason anyone can wager that Edeoga will return to the party that he called home for over 23 years before the governorship contest took him away.
For the PDP and Governor Peter Mbah, who has indicated a personal interest in Edeoga’s return, it will be a win-win situation for both sides.
While the possibility of another potent challenge to the governor’s second term ambitions becomes more remote, having Edeoga on his side would allow him take some naps with both eyes closed as permutations commence for the 2027 elections.
