Greetings to you all.
We bring you warm greetings from all the 18 local governments of this state, where my campaign team and I have visited since last week, to thank them in advance for the trust they have on us, ahead of the gubernatorial election which will hold in March.
Even though I have gone round this state many times in the course of my work either as local government chairman, state chairman of ALGON, deputy national president of ALGON, chairman of the local government service commission and currently, the candidate of the PDP, my recent visit to the 18 local government areas have brought me closer to our traditional rulers, youths, women, religious leaders and a broad spectrum of stakeholders who are all unanimous in their disenchantment with the present APC administration in the state.
This phase of the campaign tour which ended on January 25, 2023, was very revealing. For the first time, our fathers came out bold and courageous to cry out about their plight.
From Obudu, the home of Prof Ben Ayade, the governor, to Bakassi, we all felt like weeping, as the traditional rulers and the masses spoke about the decay in our state.
I must say that the experience has confirmed our worst fears about the gravity of neglect that our people have suffered in the hands of the APC government. We saw very terrible roads especially in the North, where Ayade comes from. Believe me, we are getting to the end of these sufferings and neglect.When we get into office on May 29 this year, we will, by the grace of the Almighty, change the narrative for good.
Just after our campaign team peacefully left the North, Ayade led his party into that region and one of the comments we have heard so far from the governor is the allegation that the opposition is planning to import thugs and militants from other parts of the country, to terrorise the state during the general elections. We laughed as we heard this because we know it is exactly what Ayade is planning to do.
The entire state is aware of how Ayade imported thugs and militants into the northern part of the state for the bye-election which held last year. Having realized that his party had woefully lost, he brought in a band of official and unofficial marauders who inflicted mayhem on the electoral officials and seized materials to enable them distort the figures and then submit same to INEC.
We already know that he intends to repeat this deadly strategy. Unfortunately for him, the plot is dead on arrival as our people have been sufficiently conscientized to stand up for their rights, and to vote and ensure that their votes count.
I want to place it on record that senator Ben Ayade’s unfounded alarm is a strategy to get the police to hound, harass, pursue and arrest our supporters who he intends, for obvious reasons, to keep out of circulation by throwing them into detention and remanding them until after the election.
His thugs have already started being violent, destroying our billboards, harassing our supporters and causing havoc in the north; the same place we spent about four days campaigning peacefully. Ayade and his party are a violent people.
Let me use this opportunity to once again call on our security agencies to sit up and remain neutral as we get close to the general elections. They must not allow themselves to be used to torment innocent citizens.
One of us, Mr Peter Akpanke, the PDP candidate for the Obudu/Bekwara/Obanliku Federal Constituency election, is already being hounded by Ayade, with the tacit support of the police and the judiciary, with a mischievous bench warrant, over a murder charge that Akpanke knows nothing about.
In fact, Akpanke had gone the extra mile to get the police to apprehend the suspect who killed the policeman in question and the suspect has since willingly cofessed to the crime.Yet, Ayade is still doing everything to force the police to harass our candidate because defeat now stares him in the face.
In times like this, the police and the DSS should live up to their professional calling and maintain their non partisanship avowal, and do justice to this matter to avoid a breakdown of law and order. The police know the truth and should not allow themselves to be misled by Ayade.
Rather than chase shadows, Ayade should take deliberate efforts to restitute for his sins against the people of Cross River State for about eight years now. He still has a few more months to do this. I urge him to get into his closet and do some self examination before the end of his disastrous tenure.
The outgoing government has deceived our people enough. We have, for instance, spoken many times against moves by the governor to embark on last minute programmes and projects, including the plan to conduct a recruitment exercise into the state civil service in the twilight of this administration. At best, this is a voodoo exercise meant to curry favour from unsuspecting members of the public. It is one of the antics concocted by the present administration to buy the hearts of the people but unfortunately for them, our people are getting wiser. This exercise, if it holds, would end up laced intensely in nepotism, favouritism and sectionalism. It would be purely political and would not meet the genuine needs of the civil service. It is meant to rally troops for the 2023 elections and make the next government look bad by inflicting upon it a wage bill that is unpayable. The timing is wrong and the motive is completely mischievous and wicked, to say the least.
Come to think of it, this government has not implemented any promotion since it came on board in 2015. Primary school teachers have not been promoted; there have been no incremental steps since 2016 and many primary school teachers are still being owed backlog of salaries. It is common knowledge that public primary schools in the state do not even have imprest; which is why the teachers use their money, and sometimes find ways of getting money from the pupils, to be able to buy lesson notes and even chalk.
Indeed, it is armed with this knowledge that I felt so sad when I heard that the governor has approved immediate payment of scholarship to students of Cross River State origin. It is shocking how a government can set out to deliberately hoodwink its own people for purely political purposes and gains.
As a major stakeholder in the Cross River project and by the grace of God, the next governor of our state, I wish to humbly assert that in as much as I know that our people need job opportunities in the state civil service, this one is deceitfully envisioned for political reasons. Recruitment exercises ought to be methodic, systematic and seen to be genuine; something that should be done in a gradual manner to allow the state and its people flow with it, based on the resources available. This one is coming with ulterior motives and is therefore unlikely to find the oxygen and legitimacy to stand the test of time.
The second and very worrisome issue is the plan by the government to collect five years lease payment from quarries and some manufacturing companies that operate in the state. We are told that the government is reaching out to these companies to raise revenue from them five years in advance.
This will not be in the interest of our state. While we agree that until May 28, 2023, the governor has the right to take decisions for the state, I dare say that if this is allowed, he would have mortgaged our state for the next five years. The plan is anti- people and against the common good of all Cross Riverians. We are using this opportunity to raise the red flag and to warn that we must not allow the plot to mortgage our future. The companies should be wise enough not to allow themselves to be hoodwinked by those who are trying to sell this dummy. This is a warning to the companies and it will be in their interest not to fall into the trap. The timing of this venture is very awkward and unreasonable. The companies are advised to be wiser.
Let me also advise against the hurriedly planned sale of government property to government officials who are currently occupying those official residential quarters. Lovers of this state have kicked against this in the past and I want to add my voice at this time, to caution that the out-going government should not contemplate selling those government properties under whatever guise. These are properties that represent the face of the state. Please let them be.
At this juncture, permit me to please make an appeal to the state government. Calabar was hitherto declared the cleanest state capital in Nigeria for many years. In fact, as commissioner for environment, I received several delegations from state governments, far and near; all of whom came to find out from us as a state, ways and means of keeping Calabar clean in particular and the state at large. Today, the reverse is the case. Our state is now known for mountains of refuse. We can truly, hardly breathe. The shame is becoming unbearable. Let the government please do everything to rid our state capital at least, of these heaps of dirt and disgrace. It is easy to deal with, and it is doable. We did it before and it can be done again and again.
Let me also give some attention to the forest. The pristine tropical rainforest is one of our greatest gifts. Must we be completely denuded of this great gift with all its rich fauna and flora before this government goes? The effect of this ruthless brigandage on our forest is already upon us. How can our government be so callous on our people and posterity! Let the government stop its hypocrisy on this matter and end this modern slave trade. Money must not be made at all costs and in complete disregard to the well -being of our people and the future of our children. Enough of the madness. Let our forests be exploited sustainably so as to give our environment the much needed succour it deserves. Even timber dealers would have a more sustained and profitable trade if things are done right .
Finally, let me touch on the recent controversy surrounding BIVAS machines in our state. We all are aware of reports indicating that the state government has some BIVAS machines in its possession. INEC has denied any connivance as its machines have not left their place of custody. Our worry is that in a recent press release, IPAC had maintained that it was not carried along when INEC and the security forces in the state moved in to confirm that no BIVAS machine was tempered with. Infact, IPAC insists that for some inexplicable reasons they were stopped from participating in that verification exercise. We cannot but be worried. We therefore call on INEC and the security agencies to allow IPAC certify the authenticity of their pronouncement on the BIVAS. This is critically important because confidence building is critical in election management, prior to, during and after the elections.
Gentlemen of the press, I covet your continued support in the days ahead. I thank you for your kind attention. I am ready to take the darts that would come from the purveyors of lies from the other side and the attack dogs of government as well as their spiritually poor sympathisers. I am now ready to take some questions.
Senator Sandy Onor
Calabar
Friday, January 27, 2023.
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