By Kelvin Obambon
Former governor of Cross River State, Mr Donald Duke, has called on electorates in Cross River Southern Senatorial District to mobilize and vote out any member of the National Assembly who refuses to present his or her scorecard to the people.
Duke who made the call at a stakeholders meeting convened by the Cross River State Southern Senatorial Zone Stakeholders Forum in Calabar on Thursday, said elected officials, especially National Assembly members in the Senatorial Zone, should give account of their stewardship to enable the electorates review their performance, so as to decide whether or not they deserved the people’s continuous support.
He attributed the collapse of quality governance in Cross River to lack of accountability and responsible leadership, averring that until those who hold the people’s mandate in trust are summoned to present their scorecards, the challenges facing the senatorial ward and the entire state would persist.
His words: “I’m surprise that we don’t have a good number of our representatives here. We always focus on the governor and forget that we elected those in the House of Assembly and National Assembly.
“I’m also surprise that we have never call them to account for their stewardship. It’s almost assumed that once you are elected that’s it. We have representatives that have been there for almost 8, 10 to 15 years. None has been held accountable. We always feel that the governor must do this or that. What about the others that are elected. Why are they not here? Are they not accountable to us?
“Our representatives should tell us what they have done in the last couple of years, and not when it is time for election they make available hand outs which they conveniently call empowerment and all that. It is becoming insulting to the sensibilities of people.
“And we have people in prominent committees across our state – Niger Delta, FERMA. Those committees are important to us. We want to know what they have done with them. It’s important. Unfortunately, we now have a political system where there’s no interaction. I don’t want to refer to my time. But I must say that it was more interactive than we do have now. It was more collegiate.
“If our representatives were here we would have start asking pertinent questions and if they don’t then I will actively start campaigning as much as I can against them. This ‘carry go’ attitude is absolute nonsense. If they feel they are not accountable to us then let’s campaign against them. That office belongs to all of us. They represent us. It’s not yours. It’s ours.”
The Social Democratic Party Presidential candidate in the 2019 election, declared that it would be quite contemptuous for any lawmaker to snub an invitation to present his or her scorecard, stressing that people should start insisting on merit before entrusting their mandates on anyone vying for political position.
Duke said although he accords priority to merit as one of the criteria for electing people into positions, he would however, uphold zoning because it is the only way of ensuring peace, equity and fairness in the system, adding that all elected offices should be included in the zoning arrangement.
The meeting was attended by Senator Bassey Ewa Henshaw, Elder Chief Ogban Ebock, former deputy governor of Cross River State, Barr. Efiok Cobham, Arch. Bassey Eyo Ndem, Ntufam Ignatius Iyamba, Prof. Ani Offiong Ani, Dr Iyam Ugot and Elder Gershom Davis.
Also in attendance were Hon. Matthew Olory, Hon. Ogbor Ogbor, Hon. Effa Esua, Hon. Denis Nkiri, Hon. Charles Eko, and many other political heavyweights in the Southern Senatorial District.
