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| R-L: Gov Ben Ayade, Sen Liyel Imoke, Mr Donald Duke (credit: GHP, Calabar) |
Nyok|24 August 2018
Chief Okoi Ofem Obono-Obla the Special Adviser to the President on Prosecution has said that the zoning of elective offices to designated senatorial districts in a democracy in an anathema NegroidHaven can report authoritatively.
Obono-Obla disclosed this argument recently where he said that democracy is all about choices, that is to say, to zone is to undermine this reality. For the presidential aide, when the leading opposition political party, the PDP, chose gubernatorial candidates from various Senatorial Districts, the APC, was not yet formed, so, to condition the process of choosing a candidate for governor on PDP’s culture is incongruous.
While going down historical lane, Obono-Obla observed that, ‘It is beyond dispute that All Progressives Congress was founded on the 31 July 2013. It was the day the Independent National Electoral Commission registered the APC which after three political parties namely the Action Congress of Nigeria , ACN, All Nigerian Peoples Party, ANPP, Congress for Progressives Change, CPC and splinter factions of All Progressives Grand Alliance , APGA and Democratic Party of Nigeria, DPN had agreed to merged to form a broad based national political party to take on the then behemoth Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
‘Conversely, the PDP was founded in 1998. This write up will be restricted to the Cross River State and the whole essence of it is to demonstrate and show that the circumstances, factors , permutations , variables and premises that informed the decision of leaders of the PDP to nominate it governorship candidates in 1998, 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015 are irrelevant and inapplicable to whatever factors , variables and calculations that the leaders of the APC would use in selecting it governorship candidate for the 2019 governorship election.
‘This is intended to refute the fallacy or the thinking or assumption in some circles that APC must zone it governorship position concerning the 2019 governorship election in Cross River State to the Northern Senatorial District of Cross River State. The premises of this thinking or assumption is that since Donald Duke from Cross River Southern Senatorial District held office as Governor for eight years and Liyel Imoke from Cross River Central Senatorial District also held office for eight years then in the interest of Justice, fair play and equity somebody from Northern Senatorial District of Cross River State must therefore hold office as Governor for eight years !
‘I have previously shown that the premises for such a position or assumption or argument is flawed , faulty and untenable because the circumstances , variables , factors and permutations that informed the leadership of the PDP to nominate Donald Duke from the South as it’s governorship candidate cannot be the same upon which stake holders of the APC would use in 2018 to nominate it’s governorship candidate . It is as simple as that. APC and PDP are two distinctive political parties with different ideological inclinations and ethos . More so , human society is dynamic and not static; it changes in conformity with current ans prevail thinking , circumstances and times , It follows therefore that political calculations or factors that informed or shape public opinion or electoral behaviour say twenty years ago may not be necessarily be the ones that will shape and influence electoral behaviour or even voting pattern presently . The truth of the matter is that APC is a relatively a new political party whose ideological foundation is rooted in the change mantle; so it should as a matter of principles not emulate or copy from PDP. It must do things differently , peculiarly and uniquely in its own ways. I submit that Cross River APC must discard or distance itself from the zoning formula which leaders of the PDP used twenty years ago to select it’s governorship candidate. It goes without saying that every APC in Cross River State who think he or she is constitutional qualified and eligible to contest election into the office of Governorship of Cross River State is free to throw his or her hat into the ring .
‘There is no zoning of the position of governorship because APC was not yet in existence in 1998, 2003, 2007, 2011 when PDP decided to chose it’s candidates from the Southern and Central Senatorial Districts of the Cross River State. Undoubtedly , presently Cross River State is in a state of nadir and decline and therefore will need to have a competent Governor come 2019 with the necessary administrative acumen , experience and presence of mind to change the fortunes of the State ! So competence, merit and ability must take precedent over political expediency in the choice of governorship .
‘Democracy is all about choices, alternatives, the right to vote for your choice based on your conviction of the workability of the manifesto or road map presented by a candidate! It is also whether or not the electorates repose their trust or confidence in the ability or integrity or character of a candidate. When offices are zoned the alternatives or choices available to the electorates become circumscribed and limited which to all intents and purposes is an anathema to the tenets of democracy!!!
‘We have seen an army of Governorship aspirants within the APC in Cross River State which indeed is a welcome development because it will give members of the Party a veritable opportunity to choice from, in the Primary election ! However it is distasteful and disheartening that some of the aspirants have woefully and spectacularly failed to articulate clear cut, blueprints and road maps of what they will do if elected . Disappointedly, some of these aspirants have nothing to offer rather than fanning the embers of ethnic dichotomy and sectionalization !
‘Some of the aspirants give the impression of entitlement to the Party Ticket simply because they feel they are from certain part of the State which they ridiculously argue deserve to produce the Governor! Happily , APC is a new Party that cannot under any guise adopt the zoning formula which PDP used from 1998 to 2015 to produce all it Governors that ruled the State this past twenty years ! Gladly, we have seen Governors from all the constituent or component parts of the Cross River State these past twenty years.
‘So, nobody should put forward the bland , insipid and utterly unimpressive argument that because Donald Duke and Liyel Imoke respectively served eight years as Governors, then somebody from the Northern Senatorial District of the State must in equal measure served eight years. With due respect, such line of argument is a bunkum and balderdash ! When a Governor has served a term in office, it is sound and good performance in office that will determine whether or not the electorate will compensate him with a second term! In other words, it is good and quality performance that will entitle an incumbent Governor to a second term ! It is not sentiments and emotional outbursts of where such a Governor comes from.
‘In any case , the dynamics of politics and electoral behavior has changed drastically in the State in particular and the country Nigeria ! We are seeing emerging trends of counting votes premised on fair, credible and transparent elections . Unlike twenty years ago, when elections were won on platter of gold solely based on horrible manipulations , massive rigging, roguery and all sort of chicanery!
‘Presently, it is only credible candidates with solid record running on clear cut manifestos and ideas on how to move the State and country forward that stand a chance of winning! It is not where somebody comes from or which ethnic group he or she belong to that will be the determinant factors.
Nyok
Is the Blogger-in-Chief, Editor-in-Chief & Publisher of NegroidHaven
