It is common to hear people say that politicians from a particular political party cannot deliver on their promises, while those belonging to another party are better at performing. So you hear things like: “People from this party never deliver,” or “Politicians from that party are all the same.”
Average Nigerians have developed an almost reflexive habit of attaching performance to party membership rather than to the individual character and integrity of the politician. It is as if the party cards determines whether they will serve the people or serve themselves. But in reality, performance in office is fundamentally about the person, not the party.
A clear case study is Senator Orji Uzor Kalu who offers an interesting contradiction to the narrative that performance is party-dependent. Here is a politician who has moved through three different political parties; the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA), and the All Progressives Congress (APC), and delivered consistently across all of them. His journey tells a story not about party affiliation but about personal commitment to excellence and service.
When Orji Uzor Kalu assumed office as governor of Abia State in 1999, he did so as a founding member of the PDP. Nigeria was returning to democracy after years of military rule, and there were no established templates for what good governance looked like in the new civilian era. Yet, from the outset, Kalu demonstrated an unusual commitment to development. He did not just talk about building infrastructure; he built it. He did not just promise security; he created innovative security structures. He did not just claim to support education; he invested in schools across the state, creating facilities that transformed educational access for Abia children.
During those early years in the PDP, no one needed to ask whether Kalu was delivering. The evidence was visible. Roads were being constructed. Schools were being renovated. Economic activity was increasing. Aba, which had been notorious for insecurity, became an attractive destination for traders and investors. The people of Abia could see, touch, and benefit from the work their governor was doing. The party colours mattered far less than the visible transformation happening in their communities.
Now here is where the question of party versus person becomes critical. Truly, some politicians, when they change parties, seem to lose their focus. They seem to be lost and struggling to find their feet which make them become different people under new party colours. But not Kalu. Moving to the PPA did not diminish his commitment to delivering for Abia. If anything, it sharpened his focus.
Then, the transition to the All Progressives Congress represents the third chapter in this remarkable story. When Kalu joined the APC, genuinely, some people showed concerns if he would maintain the same level of intensity, the same commitment, the same hunger to deliver. Would his performance dip? Would he become just another senator focused on collecting sitting allowances and attending ceremonies?
The answer is resounding no. If anything, Senator Kalu’s performance in the APC as a Senator has been extraordinary. Look around Abia North today and you see the evidence. Over one hundred classroom blocks have been constructed or renovated. Roads that were death traps are now motorable. Scholarship programmes have sent Abia youths to study in universities abroad. Women have been empowered with business support. Youth have received skills training. Communities have gotten water projects and solar installations. Whenever Senator Kalu is engaged on this, he does not just come with unverifiable claims and sweeter words. He comes with a report card of accomplishments.
But more remarkably is that Kalu is not just performing at the constituency level. In the Senate, he has sponsored transformative bills like the Electric Vehicle Transition and Green Mobility Bill, the Social Welfare Service Bill among others. These are not parochial bills designed to benefit his state or senatorial zone alone; they are national legislation aimed at solving problems for all Nigerians. He has secured federal projects not just for Abia North but has advocated for Southeast interests at the national level, evidenced in his leadership and guidance role at the South East Development Commission.
With no apologies, when you measure his performance against other senators from other parties, he consistently stands out as one of the most visible, most productive, and most impactful. If you do an unbiased assessment, there are senators from the opposition parties who do far less for their constituencies what Senator Kalu does. The difference is not the party they belong to; it is their personal commitment and integrity which is what the Abia North linchpin holds sacred.
Senator Kalu’s journey across party lines while maintaining performance excellence draws our attention that we have spent so much time arguing about which party is better that we have overlooked the obvious: the party does not make the politician; the politician makes the party. Performance is not inherited through party membership; it is earned through personal dedication, integrity, and the willingness to work hard when nobody is watching.
For OUK, public office as a trust, not an opportunity. He measures success by what he delivers to his people, not by titles he collects. He has done this in the PDP, in the PPA, and now in the APC. Party colours have changed, but his commitment to excellence has remained constant.
*_Comrade Duke writes from Umunneochi in Abia North_*
