C’River Re-Run Election: The Odds Favour Imoke

ImokeJohn Ogbedu, our South-South Bureau Chief, examines the potentials of Senator Liyel Imoke, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for toady’s re-run governorship election in Cross River State and his bright chances at the poll vis-a-vis other candidates.


Senator Liyel Imoke, the executive governor of Cross River State between May 29, 2007 and July 14, 2008, a period of 14 months, falls under the category of selfless leadership, that is conscious of the needs of the generality of the people. His election was nullified before Justice Suleiman Galadima’s Court of Appeal sitting in Calabar.

With the re-run gubernatorial poll taking place today, it is imperative to pin-point those vital factors that are already playing out in the state to facilitate the return of Imoke to power. Such factors include his amiable relationship with the leadership and entire members of the ruling PDP family, the grassroots, non-politicians and even a cross-section of opposition parties in the state, to name but a few.

His performance in office has been widely acknowledged by different individuals and interest groups within and outside the state in recent times. This backing has manifested in the avalanche of pro-Imoke rallies across the length and breadth of Cross River State, with people and groups pledging their unflinching support.

Rural communities in Cross River State were beneficiaries of physical development in terms of provision of infrastructure(s) in his short tenure. His administration set up different bodies to accelerate rural growth and give rural dwellers a new lease of life, who often only hear of government and its activities on air (radio and television) and sometimes in the print media.

Within Imoke’s one year in office, records available to our correspondent show that he fast-tracked the development of rural areas by way of establishing some agencies to specifically address the needs of the rural people who constitute over 80 per cent of the 2.8 million people of the state. These include the Border Communities Development Commission, Rural Development Agency, State Electricity Agency, Investment Promotion Bureau and the Road Maintenance Agency, among others.

Communities living around the expanded roads like Ekori Junction to Ekori Beach Road and Nko-Agoi Road in Ekori, Yakurr Local Government Area, Ikom-Agbokim and Okuni-Okoroba-Nsofang-Nkpot Road in Ikom Council as well as some 65-km road projects in Ikom are the ones who could actually assess his administration.

Within the same period, it was also learnt that the Adim-Agwagune Road in Biase Local Government Area, Akpabuyo Ring Road in Akpabuyo Council, New Bakassi Roads, and the Idundu Bridge, and Lokpoi Bridge were rehabilitated by Imoke. He had also flagged-off the construction of 50 kilometres of urban roads, expecting to build another 100 kilometres of roads by 2011 and extended the Calabar Water Scheme to connect 30,000 households in the state capital.

In an exclusive chat with Saturday Tribune in Calabar recently, the state chairman of PDP, Ntufam (Hon.) Ekpo Okon, said Imoke standardised 20 general hospitals and 196 health centres while salaries of health professionals in the state were increased to bring them at par with what obtains at the federal level.

For education, which is the bedrock of any society, Ntufam Okon, a journalist and former member of the House of Representatives, gave kudos to Imoke’s administration for “its commitment to the arrest of the deteriorating state of public schools in the state”. In specific terms, he said the Imoke government invested N15b in infrastructure and manpower development, beginning with instant intervention in 60 secondary schools and 135 primary schools.

“At the tertiary level,” Ekpo added, “Imoke increased the direct funding of Cross River University of Technology (CRUTECH) by 50 per cent, approved a special allowance for senior lecturers which has also put them at par with their counterparts in federal universities.”

Whereas the paramount ruler of Ogoja and chairman of the Cross River State Council of Chiefs, Ntol Gregory Adima, agreed with the PDP boss on Imoke’s feats; the leader of the opposition Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), Mr. Cletus Obun, thinks otherwise. For him, the educational sector did not see much progress during the short stanza of Imoke in the Government House in Calabar.

However, the inability of the opposition parties to build on their success after securing the appeal court’s verdict nullifying Imoke’s earlier election has turned out to be their (CNPP) albatross and another plus for the Imoke/PDP campaign team. The Imoke team has been busy campaigning, telling the people of Cross River State to continue to line up behind Imoke at the August 23 polls. On the other hand, the opposition parties are still basking in the euphoria of their Appeal Court victory cancelling the election of Imoke as governor, which is their greatest achievement so far in the state.

The only arsenal the opposition parties have in abundance against the ruling PDP is their ability to see nothing good at all in the Imoke-led PDP government. Yet, they hardly offer alternatives superior to what ex-Governor Imoke did in 14 months. Even at that, the opposition parties are not closely knitted as to pose a danger to Imoke’s PDP, which is already “over-campaigning”, traversing the entire state like a colossus while its rival parties are still snoring in their sleep content with the favourable judgement by Justice Galadima which they got in the appeal court. Worse, for various reasons, most of them do not even have candidates again for the fresh polls.

The Action Congress (AC) flagbearer in the 2007 general elections, Mr. Emmanuel Ibeshi, has since been expelled from the party for unilaterally withdrawing from AC’s case against Imoke’s victory as governor at the election petition tribunal. Going by the provisions of the Electoral Act of 2006, AC cannot just present candidates except those that ran in the 2007 elections.

Imoke’s chances received further boost last week when the state chapter of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) abandoned its gubernatorial ambition and pitched its tent with Senator Liyel Imoke, arguing, curiously, that it supports Imoke as a person for the governorship seat, but not PDP as a party!

Speaking to newsmen recently in Calabar after an enlarged executive council meeting of AD in Cross River State, the party’s vice-chairman for the South-South Zone, Mr. Chris Iki, said, “There was no alternative to Imoke in Cross River State for now, hence, the (AD) decision to support the erstwhile governor (Imoke) to enable him continue with his good work(s).”

Mr. Iki, a lawyer, then dismissed the “gang-up”of CNPP in the state, of which AD is an integral part, saying, “We (AD) have not seen any serious candidate in the opposition fold that could wrest power from the PDP.” Iki even went a step further to take over the job of Imoke’s campaign by extolling the virtues of the 14-month administration of Senator Liyel Imoke.

“His one year in office has seen local government councils in the state getting their statutory allocations in full. We have also seen massive rural road and electrification projects, civil atmosphere in place unlike during the Donald Duke era when civil servants had little or no value”. Oh, PDP, remember AD’s Chris Iki in your Kingdom when the chips are down!

Another factor that will also definitely influence voters to root for Imoke again for the Government House is his landmark feats in the tourism industry, where Chief Peter Ojie, the state deputy chairman of PDP, in an interview with Saturday Tribune in the Cross River State capital, said this effort made Imoke to stand out among his then colleagues (governors) in the country. For instance, Chief Ojie cited the highly improved 2007 Cross River State Christmas Festival, the largest and most colourful so far in the history of this festival started by the former governor of the state, Mr. Donald Duke, who has not hidden unequivocal support for Imoke for the fresh polls this week.

Chief Patrick C. Okem, a retired permanent secretary in the state, told Saturday Tribune in Calabar that commuters in the state capital, who had been groaning under the yoke of inadequate public transportation, had cause to smile under the Imoke administration. Okem, who once served as the sole administrator of Yakurr Local Government Area in the state, praised ex-Governor for procuring 15 additional “Metro” blue buses to boost the existing fleet, and placing orders for 30 more buses and 50 (taxi) cabs to kick-off a modern taxi service in Calabar this year.

“Relatively speaking, there is no doubt that the strong foundation that Imoke had laid for the development of the state before the termination of his 14-month regime, and the goodwill that he personally enjoys from the generality of the people, in particular, women and youth in the state, who have every cause to line up behind Imoke for his deep concern for them in Cross River State, are the pillars on which his anticipated victory at the Saturday election rests”, said Chief Okem.