The Twilight of greed: Why the quest for a third term is an affront to Adoka/Ugboju

By: Matthew Iduh

The political landscape of Adoka/Ugboju State Constituency stands at a precarious bifurcation, tethered between the sanctity of a gentleman’s agreement and the insatiable cupidity of an incumbent who has mistaken public service for a personal fiefdom.

The third-term ambition of Rt. Hon. Mike Audu is not merely a political aspiration; it is a transgression against the foundational principles of fiduciary trust, equity, and the very struggle that liberated Ugboju from decades of legislative obscurantism within the context of Adoka/Ugboju State Assembly representation.

Recalling the inviolability of the 2015 covenant, it must be noted that history is a parsimonious judge. It records that the breakthrough of 2015 was no serendipitous accident; it was the fruit of the herculean efforts of visionaries like Amb. Dickson Akoh, the late Barr. Oscar Agbo, and others, who navigated the labyrinthine corridors of political dominance to secure a “two-term rotation” agreement. This treaty was the linchpin of communal harmony; a concordat that facilitated the emergence of Ugboju representation for the first time in 2015.

To now suggest that Ugboju must “balance” Adoka’s previous 16-year tenure is a sophistic artifice — a deceptive decoy designed to mask an unyielding libido dominandi (lust for power).

If we repudiate the 2015 agreement of octennial cycles, we invite a regression to the era of “might is right,” effectively incinerating the bridge that the elites of Ugboju and Adoka painstakingly constructed. As Thomas Hobbes posited, “He who violates an agreement founded on trust dissolves the very cohesion that holds a society together.” One hopes Rt. Hon. Mike Audu perceives this peril.

Let us scrutinize the mirage of equity within Ugboju. Even if one were to entertain the fallacious premise that power must remain in Ugboju for another term, the incumbent’s claim remains morally bankrupt.

Ugboju is a tripod of three ancestral wards: Ugboju-Icho, Ugboju-Otahe, and Ugboju-Ehaje. Ugboju-Icho has occupied the seat once (via Hon. Adams Okloho). Ugboju-Otahe remains in a state of political exinanition, never having tasted representation. Ugboju-Ehaje currently holds the mandate through Rt. Hon. Mike Audu, who, by 2027, will have completed a double-quadrennial tenure. By what logic of distributive justice does an Ehaje scion demand a third term while Otahe remains a pariah in its own ancestral home?

This is not a quest for Ugboju’s interest; it is the apotheosis of ego. To preach “equity” for Ugboju against Adoka while practicing internal hegemony against Otahe and Icho is the nadir of political hypocrisy.

Furthermore, let us consider legacy versus longevity. Perhaps the most distressing revelation is that this third-term bid is fueled by a desire for historiographic vanity — to be the “longest-serving member” rather than achieving a record of transformative impact. This is a puerile pursuit. Should we, as a people, sacrifice great vision on the altar of such petty desire? A seat in the Assembly is a vessel for communal amelioration, not a trophy for personal endurance.

Seneca wisely noted, “It is not how long, but how well we have lived.” Rt. Hon. Mike Audu’s tenure has been described by many as a period of legislative inertia, lacking any mnemonic donation to the collective memory of the people. To reward such abysmal performance with an unprecedented third term would be to signal to posterity that we value the chronology of a ruler’s stay over the substance of the people’s welfare.

This is a clarion call to conscience. The electorate of Adoka and Ugboju must penetrate this political facade. We must reject the siren song of “16 years for 16 years,” which is nothing but a vehicle for protracted incumbency. We must honour the 2015 treaty to preserve our fraternal bond with Adoka. We must strive for internal equilibrium within Ugboju to ensure Otahe is not permanently enervated.

Power, when concentrated too long in one hand, tends to corrupt the soul and atrophy the vision. Rt. Hon. Mike Audu has had his zenith; to demand more is to plunder the future of the constituency.

For Rt. Hon. Mike, the first term was not enough. The second term is not enough. Would a third term be enough? I guess when the third-term aspiration is achieved and completed, and it becomes 16 years for Ugboju and 16 years for Adoka, because of the insatiable hunger and unquenchable thirst for power, the next thing we are likely to hear is: “The first round of 16 years started with Adoka, so let the next round of 16 years or two terms of eight years start with Ugboju.” Then, a fourth-term ambition will be activated.

It is time to terminate the era of power intoxication and return to the path of rectitude.

The mandate belongs to the sovereign people, not to a careerist seeking a legislative lifetime achievement award.

SAY NO TO THIRD TERM IN OUR STATE CONSTITUENCY!