I had realised that for some time now, on both sides of the political divide there have been  murmurs & rumours  speculating on the factors behind my abrupt departure from the PDP immediately after the Presidential elections & my equally intriguing decision to move to the APC as early as January 2016.
As a citizen who is sensitive to the feelings of my immediate and broader constituencies, I consider it a duty  to put out the correct background for posterity’s sake.
1. In 2014 , when I declared  my entrance into the political arena as a gubernatorial aspirant on the platform of the PDP, I made a very categorical public declaration that I have, of my freewill & volition, subordinated my ambition to the re-election ambition of President Jonathan …that his ambition shall remain superior to mine. Later events would teach me a very expensive political lesson in terms of making such a far reaching public declaration very early in one’s campaign.
2. Any honest observer of the events leading up to the emergence of the PDP Rivers State governorship flagbearer in 2014, would concede that it was nothing short of official daylight fraud and robbery orchestrated by the Party. About N20m  collected from over 23 aspirants with no plans whatsoever to conduct an election of any sort. It was to say the least the most primitive & shameful primaries process I’ve ever witnessed in life.
3. To date , I remain convinced that if aspirants like myself and others were not forcefully excluded from the primaries and the “delegates” were not mostly fully yoked and stage-managed , the very strong public feelings to give other ethnic areas a chance to produce the next governor would have had a swaying effect at the primaries.
Now contrary to what many would think , I do not at all hold the beneficiary of this disgraceful process at fault. To do so will miss the culpable target by a very wide margin & encourage the same institutions to continue perpetrating this evil. The PDP at national and state levels including those in government , their relations, party executives, etc did grave injustice to its founding fathers and they should be very ashamed of themselves.
4. My immediate decision, after that show of abysmal failure of leadership was to fully dissociate myself from that political party and it’s shameless leadership. Then like a thunderbolt , I was there and then confronted with my earlier public declaration that my political ambition would remain secondary to GEJ’s reelection ambition.
5. As a man of my words whose deep love for public service & development keeps driving me into the political arena  , I came to the very very difficult position that the only option left for me was to remain in that Party in spite of the repulsion I felt about the primaries process, until after the Presidential election in order to remain true to that my public declaration.  I worked for the Party in committees & at my local government level, until and up to the Presidential elections.
6. Immediately after the Presidential elections, having discharged my conscience, I left the PDP in body, mind and soul ; I then proceeded to leave the Country on a “sabbatical” excursion. I knew that whatever my future direction might take , it will never have anything to do with a Party like the PDP, whose national leadership can be as reckless, indisciplined, grossly insensitive to public will and even fraudulent.
7. As I reflected more on 2014, it was very clear to me that with respect to our dear  State , Governor Amaechi , in spite of his personal style & approach on issues , consistently took actions and campaigns whose core values  have remained fair,  progressive, unity & development seeking to date. He fought for our oil wells. He fought for the completion of East-West road . He fought for the Bomu-Bonny road. He fought for Ogoni remediation. He stood by the equity principle of power rotation in 2015. He took the rare risk of leaving a ruling Party & founded an opposition Party . In all this, isnt it very laudable that he is much younger than these people who ought to know better but were  busy wasting our unique collective opportunity of a lifetime.
8. In projecting the way forward for our State , the most critical missing element I could pick out is a selfless, fair and visionary leadership anchor upon which  we can rebuild the fast deteriorating social security and economic foundations of the State .
Considering the options before me , it took me no big effort to decide as far back as January 2016  that the best way forward for our State will be to build a solid support base for a sustainable State wide leadership to emerge under Governor Amaechi as the anchor, supported by sincere, respected, knowledgeable,  selfless elders, technocrats , businesses, academicians, youths and our traditional institutions so that together we can restore citizens & investors  confidence back to the State which has lost so much grounds in recent times because of the huge void in selfless, bold, honest  conscientious leadership. His public service track record & political pedigree with combined leadership experience at the Executive and the Legislature places him at a very unique position to hold this critical leadership anchor position. With honest support from across the State and his commitment , I see a brighter future for the State.
I’m glad that I have put out the facts so that  truth seeking minds can be properly guided even as I’m well aware that those who want to twist history for their personal reasons would always  indulge in the fundamental right of self expression.
Thank you .
God bless you.
God bless Rivers State.
Beks Dagogo-Jack
© 21/10/17
