02/04/2025
Ndi Enugu, Edoga Labour is in vain
Cash-and-Carry Politics: A Synonym for Prostitution.
Cash-and-carry politics is often discussed in relation to political corruption, moral decay, and the commodification of power. While it operates in a different sphere from prostitution, both share fundamental similarities, particularly in their transactional nature, short-term benefits, and ethical concerns.
Cash-and-carry politics refers to a system where political loyalty, candidacy, and governance decisions are driven by financial or personal gain rather than ideology or public service. It involves vote-buying, political defections for financial benefits, and governance influenced by money rather than policies.
Today, reports emerged that the 2023 Labour Party gubernatorial candidate in Enugu State, Hon. Chijioke Edeoga, has returned to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) after misleading supporters into believing he had a distinct political ideology from that of the PDP.
It should be recalled that Hon. Edeoga was initially a member of the ruling PDP in Enugu State but defected when he failed to secure the party’s gubernatorial ticket. His recent return to PDP reflects the essence of cash-and-carry politics and its similarities to prostitution in the political landscape.
The similarities of cash-and-carry politics to prostitution are discussed in the paragraphs below:
- In cash-and-carry politics, political loyalty is traded for money or material benefits. Similarly, prostitution involves the exchange of sexual services for money or gifts. Both prioritize immediate material gain over long-term values or ethical considerations.
- Just as prostitution is often criticized for undermining moral standards, cash-and-carry politics erodes democratic principles, replacing merit and public service with personal enrichment.
- Prostitution lacks emotional commitment, and in the same vein, cash-and-carry politics lacks commitment to genuine governance and development. Politicians who engage in this practice often abandon their constituents once they attain power.
- While prostitution is illegal or operates in gray areas in many societies, cash-and-carry politics often involves bribery, vote-buying, and corruption, which are also illegal or unethical.
- In both cases, one party holds more power than the other. Politicians manipulate voters with financial incentives, just as clients in prostitution often exploit economic vulnerabilities.
Hon. Edeoga’s return to PDP strongly suggests that personal ambition and political survival took precedence over ideological commitment or party-building efforts. His supporters in the Labour Party now find themselves abandoned, left to grapple with the reality that their loyalty was merely a tool for his personal political advancement.
Edeoga’s defection is not an isolated case, it is a symptom of a larger issue within Nigerian politics, where loyalty is for sale, and political allegiance is treated as a commodity rather than a moral obligation. In a system where ideology and development should be prioritized, cash-and-carry politicians should not be allowed to hold elective or appointed positions.
Unfortunately, in Nigeria, where about 80% of politicians engage in cash-and-carry politics, election cycles are reduced to a recycling of empty campaign promises, rather than genuine efforts toward national development.
Now that Hon. Edeoga has left the Labour Party, what happens to his supporters? Sadly, in Nigerian politics, it is always the followers who suffer the most.
Nze Onyefeze 1
