The Leader of the Senate, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, in this interview, said the kind of politics played in his home state, Cross River, is markedly different from what obtains in other states. Excerpts”
Recently, the Supreme Court came up with a verdict that terminated the first term tenure of Governor Liyel Imoke of Cross River State and four other governors. Being a lawyer and Leader of the South-South caucus in the National Assembly, what do you make of that judgement?
Well, it is the judgement of the Supreme Court and so it is the end of the road, judicially so to speak. Whatever the Supreme Court says is the law, personal misgivings notwithstanding. The judgement, however, has thrown up a number of issues. But for us in Cross River, we are not concerned about the issues that have been thrown up. We are more concerned about Senator Liyel Imoke recovering what is left of his mandate.
Unlike most other states where the Supreme Court verdict has raised political issues, mostly within the Peoples Democratic Party, Cross River appears to be calm. What do you see as being responsible for this?
You see, in Cross River State, we paid our own dues early. We fought our battle early in the life of our democracy, probably before others began to do so. If you recall between 2000 and 2002, Cross River was very turbulent politically and a deputy governor had to be impeached. The first deputy governor to Donald Duke was impeached. We had episodes of politically motivated violence. But most importantly, we reflected on the situation and what we tried to do was to draw lessons from that situation and learn from those lessons. We resolved after those unfortunate developments that never again will violence be allowed in Cross River politics. So, if you will permit me, I will say we learnt lessons from our past.
Perhaps, others started on a note of stability while we started on a note of crisis. So we had ample time to learn from those lessons and take some necessary steps to prevent a reoccurrence of such ugly developments. We believe in the power of debate and also in the power of alternative views. So, we try to accommodate everybody’s view points. We allow free and unfettered debate on issues and at the end of the day, we try to forge a consensus. Everybody is a member of a large political family in PDP in Cross River State and immediately we resolve on an issue, even those who took a contrary position would have been persuaded by the superior logic in that common resolution and we all feel bound by the outcome. So, the peaceful outlook of the PDP in Cross River State is as a result of a number of factors: our recent political history, the lessons we drew from that history, the resolve not to go back to those days of turbulence and the need to accommodate every view point. I always say it to people that our politics in Cross River is uni-linear, and as long as you don’t attempt to jump your position on the queue, there won’t be problem.
It was surprising to see former Governor Donald Duke being part of the campaign train of Governor Imoke. What informed Duke’s return to the PDP?
You see, the PDP is home to Donald Duke. I am sure when he went out he felt like a stranger. The PDP is his home. He was one of the founders of the PDP in Cross River and in Nigeria. That is where he has built his political career. It is the PDP that has given him his public persona today. So, for me, it was just home coming. I knew it was just a matter of time.
Did you miss him when he was not part of you?
Of course. We felt uneasy and incomplete when he was away. I just told you that the PDP in Cross River State is one big political family and losing one member of that family is not supposed to be a cheering development. We were not happy when he was away and for some of us, we felt personally sad that he didn’t put us into confidence before he made that move. But we are glad that he is back home now.
Apart from the PDP in Cross River being one big family and all that, what extra do you think former Governor Imoke has done to make him deserve a second term?
I will say it is his connection with the people. There is hardly any part of Cross River State today either urban or rural that Governor Imoke has not touched. I mean there are places we had long wished there were roads. But now, there are roads in those places. There are schools we had seen the same way since we were born. Now those schools have been rehabilitated. As I am talking with you right now, there are rural roads in Cross River State that you will not even remember that you are in a rural community when you drive on those roads. Recently, I wanted to pass through some villages and the distance between these villages used to take up to two, three hours of driving. But I realised I made the journey in less than an hour. And, I believe it is the same experience across the state. So, I believe the governor is being felt by the people. It is not his words that are getting to the people, it is more of his work.
The other reason is that if you ask the average Cross Riverian, he will tell you that Liyel Imoke is a good man. I remember meeting a friend of mine at a meeting of Cross River State elders and during the meeting my friend said Liyel Imoke had gone to the graveyard and brought dead people who had served the state in the past into acknowledgement. So, the governor has touched people in very direct and personal ways. And for me, it is not a surprise because of his pedigree. Remember that his father was a minister in the First Republic and one of the first, if not the first, medical doctor from our part of the world. So, he had promises. He could have set up offices in Lagos, Port Harcourt or Enugu at that time. But when he left office as minister after the coup, the father went to his community to set up a rural hospital to cater for the people. So, Liyel Imoke is coming from a pedigree that has always put the people first. I am sure his father must be very proud of him wherever he is now.
Is it not paradoxical that you claim Governor Imoke is being felt by the people when the state is in the lower rung of financially solvent states?
There is a certain wisdom that lack or poverty brings. A child who has to measure everything, whether it is shoes, clothes or even food, is likely to be more frugal in terms of survival, than a child who grew up in affluence. So, there is a certain wisdom that comes out of poverty. If you have to manage, it gives you a sense of value. If you were born into wealth, you are more likely to take things for granted. So, the success story of Governor Imoke is a wisdom that has come out of a climate of want. You need to prioritize and weigh the cost and benefit of every expenditure that you make. But if you have so much money, it is possible that that discipline won’t be there. You may just be throwing money at things. But every kobo in Cross River counts.
Frankly speaking, do you see the opposition parties posing a threat to Imoke’s come-back bid?
You see, the strength of a political party is measured, one, by its structures and it is those structures that determine the depth of the party’s penetration. What do I mean? A party that is strong will have presence at every level of the society. It must be present from the state to the ward level. The only party that I know of today in Cross River that has presence up to the ward level is the PDP. I doubt if any other party has a properly constituted State Executive Committee, not to talk of the local government and at the ward level. But in the PDP, we have regular ward congresses as prescribed by the party’s constitution. The ward EXCO is democratically and duly elected and the same goes for the local governments and the state EXCOs. So, our penetration goes right through.
Secondly, you talk about presence. Because they do not exist physically, they exist only on the pages of newspaper, during elections they come and make some noise on the pages of newspaper. Immediately after the election, you see their major players all returning to the PDP. When the next election is approaching, they will start off in the PDP. If they don’t have accommodation, they go elsewhere and as soon as they lose they come back to the PDP. So, these other parties are dysfunctional.
Thirdly, these parties are opportunistic. This is in the sense that they only come to the open on the eve of the election. What motivates them is the prospect of an election. That totally lack the organisational capacity to keep them going as active opposition parties.
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