15 September 2018
The Integrity Group has articulated ten unassailable reasons why former Leader of the Senate should be voted for as a Senator to represent Cross River Central in the 2019 general elections in the country.
The group highlighted his rich educational background, excellence in the legal profession, experience in the legislation, imbibing of leadership experience, people orientedness, and the like. Excerpt:
1. He's academically sound having bagged an LL.B degree from the University of Calabar and an LL.M degree from the University of Calabar. He was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1978 and was elevated to the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) in 2004.
He has studied and bagged Certificate in Export Processing Zone Administration, I.D.I Shannon, Ireland (1992); Certificate in CHANGE for the 21st Century, Stanford University, Palo Alto, USA (2009).
2. He is a legal luminary who has reason to the peak of SAN since 2004. Since being called to the Nigerian Bar in 1978, Ndoma-Egba has the nitty-gritty of legislative practice at his finger tips, a prerequisite for effective and efficient legislation.
3. He is an experienced legislator who had been elected since the 5th (2003–2007) National Assembly representing Cross River Central Senatorial District, and was reelected in 2007 for a further four-year term. He was Deputy Leader of the 6th Senate (2007-2011) and Leader of the Senate (2011-2015). Should he return, he could emerge the Senate President
4. He has garnered sound leadership/administrative qualities having been Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association, Calabar Branch, and President of the Calabar Chamber of Commerce. He has also been Director of the Cross River Basin and Rural Development Authority, and Honourable Commissioner for Works & Transport, and is presently the Chairman of the Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). Senator Ndoma-Egba is a member of senate committees on Upstream Petroleum Resources, Human Rights and Legal Matters, and Information and Media, and is deputy chairman of the Judiciary Committee of the Nigerian Senate.
5. He's people-oriented haven spoken in diverse fora and in respect of reform of the Nigeria Police Act, which came into effect on April 1, 1943 and has essentially been unchanged since that time. In May 2009, he accused the Action Congress party of delays in listing the 37 Local Council Development Areas in Lagos State in the constitution. Representative Bola Gbabijo refuted these charges.
In September 2009 Ndoma-Egba noted that several prominent people in Cross River had defected from the Action Congress and the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) to join the PDP, saying the event was a sign that opposition has crumbled in the state. In January 2013 Ndoma-Egba said that the solution to Cross River community clashes was the National Boundary Commission becoming involved in the demarcation of boundary lines.
6. He's a principled and consistent man such that following disagreements in PDP, he joined the All Peoples Congress (APC) in November 2015. He returned to his law practice as Senior Partner in the Law Firm of Ndoma-Egba, Ebri & Co in Abuja.
7. He was the best during the Seventh Assembly by reason of the number of bills he sponsored and motions moved, according to reports Ndoma-Egba sponsored and co-sponsored 38 Bills most of which have become Acts of the National Assembly including the famous Freedom of Information Bill. He was instrumental in the framing of the now famous “Doctrine of Necessity” and having served for three terms representing Cross River Central in the Nigerian Senate – (2003–2007; 2007 -2011; and 2011–2015 he's most likely to be the Senate President from Cross River State He was Deputy Leader of the 6th Senate (2007-2011) and Leader of the Senate (2011-2015).
8. He's a gentleman who has traversed the world as leader and has built international connections spreading his tentacles across the length and breadth of Nigeria and beyond. With laurels, including the prestigious Officer of the Federal Republic and Commander of the Order of the Niger and several chieftaincy/traditional titles having been listed in the Africa Who’s Who. In 2004, was honored with the revered Ambassador of Goodwill for the State of Israel and the Dr. Kwame Nkrumah Leadership Award in Accra, Ghana.
9. He could be loyal: for instance, in 1987, Senator Ndoma-Egba with a junior colleague in the bar, late Richard Ebri founded the reputable Ndoma-Egba, Ebri & Co (Legal Practitioners) in Calabar. For almost two decades after the demise of Ebri, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba has maintained the name of the chambers. Thus, immortalising a late friend/partner. Ndoma-Egba is an embodiment of loyalty.
10. He's given to education so much so that from his stipend in private legal practice, beginning from the early 80s in the cascading shadow of Ogoja in Cross River State, Ndoma-Egba started a scholarship scheme for indigent students which he has sustained for more than three decades. This scheme has churned out hundreds of graduates from first degrees to Ph.Ds from Nigerian Universities on an annual basis.
BLOGGERTORIAL
If you were to be an electorate in Cross River Central Senatorial District, wouldn't you vote for Ndoma-Egba? I doubt you wouldn't
