Why I Joined NNPP –Ben Igbakpa

Ben Igbakpa currently represents Ethiope Federal Constituency of Delta State at the National Assembly having won the 2019 election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He is seeking to retain the seat in next year’s election but now on the platform of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP). In this interview, Igbakpa who is a former member of the Delta State House of Assembly and former Commissioner for Transport in the state, expressed confidence that his performance in the first tenure would give him victory irrespective of the fact that NNPP is relatively new and unknown in Delta State.

You have been a member of the PDP over the years, why did you move to NNPP for the 2023 election?

The constitution guarantees freedom of association and expression. And most times, people don’t join political parties because of the name, they join because of the ideology. Another reason for joining a political party is because of association; you have people of like minds that you think you can galvanize your ideals with. Considering the fact that politics is local and you have to start from the grassroots, if the foundation is no longer in tandem with your thinking, there is nothing wrong, you have to activate that principle, that constitutional requirement for freedom of association, and you can move. Political parties are just vehicles to actualize political dreams and aspiration. For me, I am no longer comfortable with the party at my local level. And the leg must stand for the hand to do whatever it wants to do.

You participated in the PDP primaries and now you are the candidate of NNPP, does the law permit that?

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The law allows that. I am going to take you to two sections of the Electoral Act, and I think they are sections 115 and 153 that have to do with interpretation. When you look at those two sections, you will know that it is an offense for somebody to sign nomination form as a candidate in two different constituencies of the same electoral cycle. And section 153 or thereabout explains who is a candidate. Under section 153, a candidate means a person who has secured the nomination of a political party to contest an election for any elective office. There is a difference between a candidate and an aspirant. And again, on the same strength, section 115(1d) states a person who signs a nomination paper or result form of a candidate in more than one constituency at the same election. The operational word here is candidate. INEC does not know you, the law does not even know you until you become a candidate. So there is no offense, there is nothing to cure, nothing wrong in you leaving one association to the other in order to foster your political belief. That I have done and it is my right.

You said you left PDP because at the grassroots level, the ideals are no longer in tandem with yours but was it not actually because you lost at the primary? Was the primary not free and fair?

You are a journalist, it all depends on your definition of free and fair. The free and fair you talk about is not the free and fair that I see. But you see, politics is like a football game, people win and people lose. But in a situation where people are winners by hook, crook and in a manner that suggests an attitude of an emperor, it is unacceptable to me. Really, these are issues I don’t want to talk about but you are asking so that you don’t go with the wrong impression of my person. I know all that transpired, there was no primary, there was a charade. I know what happened in the first primary, I know all that transpired. So, when people talk about somebody winning, yes you have the ticket now, that is why I have to dare, let us go and face the people. But if I have the opportunity to amend the Electoral Act, I will request for a direct primary where every person will have a say because this primary occasioned by the statutory delegates not participating is fraudulent and it has a very big implication in our leadership recruitment quest for the country.

You will be contesting against the same forces within the PDP with the James Ibori factor, what are your chances?

You would not want to be name calling. I disagree with you, Chief Ibori is my elder brother and he is my leader. I can have certain disagreements because even the father and son relationship, there are times when the father churns out a policy in the home and the son or daughter will not agree. Let it be on record that I hold Chief Ibori in very high esteem and I still respect him; he is my leader and I have no reason not to respect him. But I am contesting election not just against his daughter, we are five on the ballot. And nobody on the ballot is a push over. So I don’t like the situation where people narrow the election to be between me and my younger sister. Yes it is a competition and there are two ways to it, it is either you win or you lose. I believe I am running on a platform and the biggest platform I am running under is my performance and scorecard as a federal legislator and a state legislator.

Apart from your performance, we also know that the party structure plays key role in deciding elections. PDP and APC are more on ground in Delta compared to your NNPP which is relatively new…

… If NNPP is relatively unknown in Delta, is Ben Igbakpa relatively unknown? So, take Ben Igbakpa, look at the face and vote for Ben Igbakpa, and that is the message.

What are you bringing to the table as campaign commences?

I told you that the biggest strength that we have in our kitty in this campaign is our performance. I am not looking for anything to say, I am not saying I will, I am not saying something disturbed me not to, I am not making promises. I signed a contract with the people of Ethiope Federal Constituency in 2019, and in 2022 going to 2023, I am going to show them my performance in this contract that I signed with them. And if I have performed the contract, executed it judiciously to standard and specification, I know they will be ready to give me another contract. And that I am sure of. So what I am bringing to the table is my performance, my scorecard which is very handy. And that should tell them that if I am able to do this in the first tenure under a dispensation of opposition, if I am able to rise up to the challenge, they should know that when I go back the second time, not just as a first timer but as a ranking member of the National Assembly, I should be able to do more.