By Kingsley Etta
One of the enduring ironies of our politics is the penchant by some politicians to invoke pity and even attempt to move mountains in the desperation to occupy political office. Perhaps, nowhere in our country is this unfortunate irony demonstrated in starker terms than in Cross River State where Ben Ayade, the immediate past Governor of the state now wants to become the State’s Ministerial nominee. Nearly everybody in the State recoils in anger whenever his name is mentioned as a possible Ministerial nominee to represent the State in the soon to be constituted cabinet of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The central Government maintains various intelligence agencies in every State of the Federation who ordinarily should update it with the current state of play in the various federating units. What are the security agencies in Cross River State doing?
Former Governor Ayade’s political associates in Cross River State are bragging that he is on the verge of getting the Ministerial slot for the State and that no power on earth can stop him. May God help Nigeria!
Until recently, Ayade prided himself as the leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Cross River State and the entire South -South geo-political zone on account of being the only APC Governor in the region. It is therefore not surprising that as the only APC Governor in the South -South, he shouldered no responsibilities of any of these States either in the buildup or during the elections. Whereas other APC Governors were seen in campaigns beyond their States (and in fact assisted in funding States without sitting APC Governors), with the exception of the flag off of the Presidential campaign in Uyo, Akwa Ibom, Ayade was hardly seen anywhere else campaigning for the party outside Cross River State. It is a fact that Ayade never believed in the possibility of a Tinubu presidency. This fact accounts for his half-hearted support of the Tinubu/Shettima ticket even after Tinubu clinched the ticket.
Unlike other APC contenders for the presidency who stepped down for Tinubu, Ayade contested for the ticket to the very end.
The outcome of the elections in Cross River State is so revealing of this fact. In the presidential election in which Ayade himself was a candidate for the Senate, he not only lost his senatorial bid; Tinubu was roundly beaten by Peter Obi in his senatorial district. Out of the five Local Government Areas in Ayade’s northern senatorial district, Peter Obi of the Labour Party won in four of the local Governments while PDP’s Atiku Abubakar won in one Local Government Area, leaving Tinubu with a zero win.
Although President Tinubu came second behind Peter Obi in Cross River State, he won in seven out of the 18 LGAs as follows: 4 were from Cross River Central with 6 LGAs while the remaining 3 were from Cross River South that has 7 Local Government Areas.
In Ayade’s Northern Senatorial District where the then serving Minister, his nominated Deputy Governorship candidate and the sitting State Chairman of the Party all hail from, the performance of the party was shameful. The rejection of Ayade by the people was clearly demonstrated by the results of the elections in his senatorial district.
Ayade planned a Governorship win for the party in the State around Cross River South and North where the party’s Governorship and Deputy Governorship candidates hail from respectively; he completely left out Cross River Central district where the PDP Governorship candidate was running from. But as has become evident, without the strong performance posted by the party in the Central Senatorial district, APC would have lost the Governorship election in Cross River State.
The distribution of the House of Assembly seats is even more revealing. Cross River State operates a 25-member House of Assembly; the 9 available seats in the Southern Senatorial District were won by APC. The party also won 9 out of the 10 seats in the Central Senatorial District. The only seat APC lost in the Central District is the Assembly seat located in Senator Ndoma Egba’s constituency. In the Northern Senatorial District where Ayade hails from, PDP won 4 out of the 6 seats with APC and Labour party clinching one seat each.
As Ben Ayade lobbies for Ministerial appointment in spite of the scandalous performance of APC in his Senatorial District where he was roundly rejected by his people, he tells everyone who cares to listen that he made a huge sacrifice by joining APC and that since joining the party, he has been unfairly treated.
This disingenuous characterization falls flat in the face of the facts on the ground. Ayade is not a victim of any ill treatment by the party but is rather a hostage to his ambition to be a Minister. For the avoidance of doubt, Ayade left PDP having lost the party’s structure to the combination of strong opposition by National Assembly members from the State and the opposition from party leaders in the state. APC literally ‘dashed’ the party to him; he was given an open cheque to do as he wished. He single handedly handpicked all the candidates including himself for the elections in the State. His treatment of his preferred Governorship candidate, Gov. Bassey Otu in the run up to the election is instructive; it shows the kind of politics he played when his control of the party was absolute.
The people of Cross River State are very bitter with Ben Ayade and rewarding him with Ministerial appointment would be unfortunate. Even the Governor’s office from where Senator Bassey Otu is supposed to operate from was left in a decrepit state with leakages, and gaping cracks on the walls. As a result of this dismal state of repair, as at today, Gov. Bassey Otu is forced to operate from a temporary office.
In concluding this commentary, I sincerely believe that political office should be seen as an opportunity to render service and make a positive difference in the lives of the people. It is a call to higher purpose that should not be taken for granted.
His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has already started his administration on many positive notes. His bold and decisive actions so far have won for him the admiration and support of millions of Nigerians. He needs experienced and highly skilled Ministers to implement the people oriented programmes in his manifesto.
I therefore urge him to carefully assemble patriotic men and women to assist him in the task of rebuilding our country. Without being immodest, Cross River State is blessed with many highly skilled, patriotic and loyal party men from whom the President is at liberty to choose. The challenges of this moment do not give room for avoidable blunders.
May God Almighty guide President Tinubu to make the right calls.
Etta writes from Calabar, Cross River State.