It Is Preposterous To Say There Is No Internal Democracy In Cross River PDP – Legor Idagbo

Legor Idagbo, a lawyer and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship aspirant in Cross River State, spoke with EMMANUEL OLADESU of The Nation on his vision for the state.

Excerpt:

How democratic is the governorship nomination process in Cross River PDP?

At the outset of the race, we were more than 20 aspirants. So, what the party leadership did was to ensure that the caucuses in all the local government areas were to screen and evaluate all the aspirants. Besides, the caucuses at the local government level, there were also caucuses at the senatorial zones. These caucuses were made up of party stalwarts from all the local governments. The caucuses gave opportunities to all the aspirants to showcase their visions, blueprint and development plans for Cross River State. The process was transparent, free, fair and democratic. At the end of the day, five aspirants were shortlisted. So, now we are five in the race. They are a few aspirants who did not make the list, but they went ahead to purchase the nomination forms and they are now in the race. Nobody stopped them. They have been going on with their campaign unhindered, without any form of harassment. It is preposterous for anybody to say that there is no internal democracy in the Cross River State PDP. The party has been transparent and democratic in all its processes. The caucus arrangement was designed to allow the people take ownership of the democratic process.

To what extent was this achieved?

The people have indeed taken ownership of the process because now they have had the opportunity to hear out the aspirants who presented themselves before them. They had the opportunity to assess everybody that aspires to serve them and they came out with their assessment of the aspirants. So, I think, to a very large extent, the people have taken ownership of the democratic process in the state.

The campaigns are characterized by bitterness. What is your view?

What is happening is that some indigenes that were not resident in Cross River are returning because they have some connections out there and they have money to spend. They are trying to undermine the will of the people, by subverting justice and the will of the people. The people have decided, but a few non-resident politicians think that they can make nonsense of what thousands of Cross Riverians have decided.

Why do you want to succeed Governor Liyel Imoke?

Governor Liyel Imoke has been able to build consensus, strong leadership institution. He established a regime of transparency in the state and today, the state has one of the best procurement agencies in the Nigeria. I want to give credit to the former Governor Donald Duke for this. Even though the state was left in huge debt, Imoke has been able to wade through the challenges and move the state forward, despite the loss of oil wells and the loss of Bakassi. So, the question that should be asked is, moving forward, what needs to be done? I come from the background of being the secretary of my local government, two-term chairman of Bekwarra Local Government Area, chairman of ALGON in Cross River State, Commissioner for Works. I came from the grassroots and have related with the people down to the top. I believe it is time we took government to the people; it is time we transformed all these achievements into sustainable wealth creation for the people. We have to invest in human development. We need to begin to look at the people. We have witnessed so much infrastructural development. The present administration has constructed so many rural roads from the creeks of Bakassi to the hills of Obanliku. In our urban renewal programs, so many kilometers of roads were constructed from Calabar to Ogoja. Now, we need to ensure that all these impact positively on the lives of people and transform the economies of the various rural areas. We need to ensure that the life of an average farmer is transformed from subsistence to commercial. All these can only be achieved through people-oriented policies of a government. This is where I come in. The people believe that I have what it takes to do all these to transform their lives. I would retain the seven-point Agenda of the present administration, but I would move it a step further aimed at wealth creation for Cross Riverians.

Culled from The Nation Newspaper

- by: UGEH MATTHIAS UNDIANDEYE
- 10 years ago
I must start by confirming as an indegiene in the state, that there is no internal democracy in cross river state pdp. If legor idagbo wishes progress for the masses of the state, he should be able to be truthful on the ill activities of the state governor/pdp excos in the state. The idea of individual empowerments by liyel imoke to our selfish brothers, who think they can lead the youths astray by hijacking electoral materials, encourage continuity of unreliable and selfish incumbents, etc, must remember that they have kids who will surely pass through this injustice roaming the streets of cross river state. In the situation of those been tagged abuja politicians with money; legor should remember liyel came into the state from abuja too. And when his time is up, he should leave honourably si another man take his place. Its not a birth rite to call all d shots in the state. In the aspect of developments been mentioned, i believe those incharge dont know what proper development is. i’ll pls urge liyel and his subbordinates to take a good example of proper and sincere developments from sule lamido of jigawa state……. TIME WILL TELL!
- by: ojb
- 10 years ago
which caucus are u talking about? Is it d ones that were hand-picked by ur oga @ d top(liyel)to make mockery of aspirants who are not richly endowmed to fill they pockets when they were made to present themselves? We are heavily enlightened abt the selection of those caucuses, their are nothing but a political gimmick by ur boss to screen out those he dims that d tide will not favour.
- by: iyamba Okon
- 10 years ago
I have never heard anything as inane as what just came out of your mouth, if truly these are your words… “it’s preposterous to say there is no internal democracy in cross river PDP”. it’s rather foolish to say. On the other hand, it keeps us amused as the script unfold from the awaiting newcomer. Quite hilarious to mention who are those indigenes that were not resident in Cross River are returning because they have some connections out there and they have money to spend. That they are trying to undermine the will of the people, by subverting justice and the will of the people. That The people have decided, but a few non-resident politicians think that they can make nonsense of what thousands of Cross Riverians have decided.please who and who decided that legor should be governor
- by: iyamba Okon
- 10 years ago
I’ll take legor on two fundamental issues he raised here; first, he mentioned home grown cross river politicians and abuja based politicians. Your oga who is pushing you through the eyes of a needle like a camel to become governor has been abuja based even before Donald Duke handed over to him, I know his house at the presidential villa. Donald Duke has resided almost all his active political years in calabar, though he has houses in lagos and abuja. Secondly, the so called transparency in the screening of aspirants for the pdp gubernatorial elections was laughable and inane because it was a mere show. Barrister Legor’s words are devoid of intelligence, asinine and fatuos. Shamingly some cows are still hungry even though they are full. Those who live in glass houses don’t throw stones, also those who desire equity must come with clean hands. Legor use your tongue to count your teeth. A word’s enough for the wise
- by: Atyathoabe Osakpa
- 10 years ago
Mr. Idagbo is suffering from willful amnesia and wants all of us to pretend that we have the same disease too. So, the PDP never declared one of the gubernatorial aspirants a “non-member” of the PDP and later on suspended the same “non-member”? I guess that to Mr. Idagbo, this incident among others are a figment of our imagination as his interview paints a picture that is contrary to the facts we all know. When an aspirant to such a high office glosses over known facts as this and insults our intelligence in this manner, we owe it to ourselves to be vigilant in our choice of who should represent us. We know the shenanigans that took place during the caucuses and no amount of revisionism will make us suspend our knowledge of what happened and accept the establishment script being foisted on us. When an spirant to high political office is so loose with facts, this certainly should raise a red flag as to the suitability of such an individual for the office he or she aspires to. My hope is that we will all have the integrity to choose the person we consider suitable for this high office rather than an aspirant that has been chosen for us. An aspirant chosen for us cannot serve our collective interests. Remember that he who pays the piper, calls the tune. If we vote against our interests, we will reap what we sow.
- by: anthony
- 10 years ago
hmmmmm we are watching who the cap fits let them wear it