By Yusufu Shehu Usman, mni

The fact that you are a registered member of one political party, does not deprive you of the right to vote for a candidate from another party

Politics is about interest and interests are not fixed or permanent. Even within the political party of which you are a member, circumstances could arise where you are faced with a conflict of interest between two members of the same party contesting an internal party election

If you vote for one, it means automatically that you have rejected the other and that doesn’t mean that you have voted against the party or Committed an anti party offence

What it simply means is that you have exercised your Constitutional right and freedom of choice of candidates, it’s a right loyalty to a political party can not take away from you and I have not heard of any body being expelled from a political party on the charge that he voted for an opposition candidate at a general election

Therefore, when and where the political party to which you are a member fields the candidate your mind is settled with, you are within your right to vote for your party’s candidate

However, in situations in which the opposition has a better candidate and you are satisfied with what your mind tells you about the opposition Candidates or you have other personal or compelling reason to cast your vote for a candidate standing election against the candidate fielded by your political party, you have both the right and the freedom to vote in the best way you may choose

This is not anti party but a demonstration of the established principles and tenets of democratic behavior and you have committed no wrong before God and man

Party loyalty is always there and it’s good but transactional or relationship loyalty is also a fact of life, which is not condemnable or contemptible as it also commands a reason and a justification of it’s own, not always congruent with party loyalty. In fact it may even surpass party loyalty depending on the crucial nature, character and depth of the relationship