C’River: ACN’s quest for power, PDP’s stranglehold

In the just-concluded general elections in Cross River State, the Action Congress of Nigeria and other opposition parties put up a spirited fight to out stage the Peoples Democratic Party, but the outcome showed that more should be done in future elections, writes MUDIAGA AFFE

The only seat won by an opposition party in the just concluded general elections in Cross River State is that of Obubra 1 Constituency in the state House of Assembly. Winner of the election, Mr. Alex Irek, of the Action Congress of Nigeria did not fail to bare his mind on the bumpy road to winning the lone seat.

Thirty-six elective positions were open for grabs in the state and national assembly during the April general elections and in what took some political onlookers by surprise, the Peoples Democratic Party grabbed 35, leaving just one to the ACN.

Prior to the elections, the ACN and other opposition parties including the Labour Party, and the All Nigeria Peoples Party had put up a spirited fight with many thinking that the opposition parties might spring a surprise during the exercise.

This position was again reaffirmed with the hard-line posture of the state Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mr. Mike Igini, who had within a short period sent signals to all the political parties that the Independent National Electoral Commission was all out to conduct credible polls in the state. His signal had sent a warning to the ruling PDP to sit up, while it gave hope to the opposition parties that with hard work, luck might come their way.

Even though the opposition parties did not achieve the envisaged political imbalance they wanted to create, pundits are wont to say that the parties actually put the ruling PDP on the edge all through the period of electioneering.

But the lone man standing in the midst of 24 PDP legislators-elect in the state assembly noted that the fight to win the seat in a state dominated by the ‘umbrella’ (symbol of PDP) was not an easy task.

According to Irek, who spoke with our correspondent shortly after receiving his certificate of return from INEC last Thursday, the strength to overrun the ruling PDP and scale through the tough political terrain was determined by his past experience as a local government chairman.

He said, “First, we made sure we educated the voters on the need to defend their votes. We also drew their attention to my past records as a former chairman of council. They confirmed that those who became chairmen from 1999 to 2011 were not able to do what I did and they believed that if I got this mandate, I would do more for them.

“It has been a rough road. You can imagine navigating where you have all sorts of crocodiles and creatures in the river and you navigate yourself to the shore, you must be a very good navigator.”

In a house of 24, Irek will not only become the Minority Leader, but will also have to contend with intense from the majority PDP to sometimes accede to his request for passage of any bill he might propose.

The lone ranger, however, said he would not be perturbed by that, saying all members of the state assembly, irrespective of political cleavages, are representatives of various state constituencies who should be seen to provide quality representation.

On the possibility of defecting to the ruling party, Irek said he never dreamt of it, saying, “How will the people look at me? When I was looking for a boat to cross, they denied me the boat and I got another boat and crossed. Are you sure if I take their (PDP) boat, they will not drown me mid-stream?”

Irek’s position was corroborated by the state Chairman of his party, Mr. Cletus Obun, who argued that the lone ACN voice would be the focus of the state assembly.

According to him, the ACN as a party is a model in democracy and with its one parliamentarian in the state assembly, it is going to be a showcase. He argued that the party only had Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State at the inception of the present administration in 2007, but within a short time, the Lagos helmsman was able to carve a niche for himself amongst 35 other governors.

The ACN chairman is optimistic that his party will triumph at the Election Petitions Tribunal to add to its number following the numerous petitions it had filed. “I can tell you this, we are still counting. At the last count, I can assure you that ACN will have up to five or 10 state House of Assembly members,” he said.

But the state Chairman of the PDP, Mr. Ekpo Okon, disagreed with the ACN, saying it might not be that easy to secure the kind of victory they are envisaging at the tribunal due to certain amendments in the Electoral Act.

Okon also argued that the so-called lone voice in the state assembly that was being touted as ACN parliamentarian was a member of the PDP up until January 2011, saying his party did not expect contrary behaviour from him.

Besides, the PDP chairman also argued that the first responsibility of all lawmakers was to their respective constituencies and the state, warning that anything otherwise would run contrary to the wish of the people that elected him.

He said, “We expect their lone voice and other representatives to first hold his responsibility to his constituency and the state. Do not also forget that the so-called lone ACN voice of the house was a member of the PDP up until January 2011. He should also bear in mind that he had once served that local government area on the platform of PDP. This should guide him in his contribution to the House that he should not forget where he came from. His allegiance should be to his constituency and the state in general.”

On the comparison between the performance of Fashola and other PDP state-led governors, Okon explained that most governors in his party had performed creditably well as well but did not enjoy the kind of media patronage that the Lagos State governor enjoyed.

He also cautioned the Cross River ACN not to tie Fashola’s decision to carry out developmental projects to their party’s policy, but added that it might be based on personal motivation.

“They should not link the performance of Governor Fashola to programmes of the ACN, it might be individual commitment. Do not forget that the media patronage that Fashola has enjoyed is not the same that most performing PDP-led government had enjoyed in the last four years.

“We have so many governors on the platform of the PDP who are doing very well, but the mere fact that they do not have that media patronage does not mean they have not performed well. However, I do not see the face of the ACN in the lone opposition member in the House,” he added.

Generally, the governorship candidate of the Labour Party in Cross River State, Mrs. Ima Nsah-Adegoke, believes that the opposition parties still have opportunities to clinch elective positions in the state since the governorship election was yet to hold.

She said to achieve this, the Independent National Electoral Commission and the opposition parties themselves must have blocked the loopholes identified during the just-concluded general elections.

Specifically, Nsah-Adegoke said, “With the conclusion of the general elections and the 2012 governorship election still ahead, the opposition parties still have a lot of chances. There was large scale financial inducement offered by the ruling PDP to poor voters in order to secure their votes- that was a sad situation. After creating poverty in the state, the ruling party utilises the opportunity to cash-in on the same poverty.

“I agree that INEC created a level playing field for all the parties, but there were lacunas in the law that INEC could not do anything about. It was left for security officials to arrest the situation but they themselves were compromised. So, who was going to carry out the arrest? There were cases in Calabar where known party candidates were driving around the metropolis on Election Day distributing money.

“However, now that we know some of the loopholes, we will try hard to block those holes before the 2012 governorship election. There were numerous cases of thumb-printing, people voting more than once, INEC ought to have used the DDC machine to curb that.”

As events unfold, especially after the inauguration in of the new lawmakers at both the state and national assembly, events at the tribunal could either boost or dampen the morale of opposition parties.