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From Judex Okoro, Calabar
Comrade Sunday Michael, the Special Adviser to Governor Ben Ayade on Inter Party Affairs and the former chairman, Inter party Advisory Council (IPAC), Cross River State, in this interview stated that All Progressives Congress (APC) winning the governorship seat, the majority of NASS and state assembly elections have proven that Cross River is completely an APC state, totally ending PDP’s dominance since 1999.
Michael of Alliance For Democracy (AD) and secretary for the Nigerian Conference for Political Parties (NCPP), said APC deserved victory at the 2023 polls because the party worked hard for it, describing the election as relatively peaceful, free and fair.
Elections have come and gone. In your assessment, can you say that the exercise was truly free and fair?
In all honesty, I can say this is the freest and fairest elections we have ever had across the country going by the outcome. Imagine the three leading candidates winning almost twelve states each. Look at the National Assembly composition and you can see Labour Party (LP) making impressive showing and even winning about eleven states plus FCT at the presidential polls. Imagine the President-elect losing his home state of Lagos during presidential polls. That shows the level playing field offered by INEC, even though there were some infractions. Again, we should learn to adapt to changing situations by admitting that election is conducted by human beings and there is always a human element factor involved. In Cross River, we had one of the freest elections ever. We had watched people being induced with money, yet the voters went to the ballot and do what pleased them. It was an election for the people. The 2023 governorship elections in Cross River State was a statement in which the people made a choice of who they want among the quality of candidates paraded by the political parties. Besides, the election did not record much violence across the state as voters came out and expressed their franchise. For me, INEC tried to improve on the use of BVAS especially during the governorship and House of assembly elections as the machines arrived early in most polling units across the state and there was no malfunctioning of the machines unlike what we witnessed in the presidential polls. The results in the state were announced on time. So, the election was relatively free, fair and an improvement in terms of BVAS in Cross River though the turnout for the second elections was very poor compared to the presidential polls.
Before the elections, pollsters have predicted that Cross River was a PDP State. Following the outcome of the general elections, are you surprised that APC came out victorious?
Of course there were different kinds of opinion polls as regards the NASS, governorship and House of Assembly elections in the state. However, some favoured PDP and some APC. Truly, it was as if APC was going to be defeated by the predictions of some pollsters and pundits. But it was very clear then that it was going to be a stiff contest between the ruling APC and the opposition parties. For me, I was very optimistic that we would triumph because we had several factors including the choice of our candidate who is acceptable, the issue of back-to-south mantra and then coming from the position of strength as a ruling party with massive structures and retinue of political appointees across all political wards. So, for me again, it was expected that APC would come out victorious, which we did.
Besides, APC campaigned vigorously across the nooks and crannies of the state selling their candidates and their programme. The party leadership, led by Governor Ben Ayade, reached out to relevant stakeholders across party lines to let them see the sense in queuing into APC’s projects and zoning arrangement for equity and justice. At the end, it paid off going by the results from the field. In other words, it was a hard fought victory not only for the party, but for Cross Riverians who demonstrated their loyalty and trust by casting their votes for APC. So, the party deserved victory because they worked for it. Winning the governorship and majority of seats at NASS and state assembly elections have proven that Cross River is completely an APC state, totally ending PDP dominance since 1999.
Of course, tempers are high after the elections and some candidates have already headed for Court. What is your candid advice to those who lost?
Certainly, after elections, candidates feel bad and aggrieved at the turnout of events considering the high expectations, especially from their parties and followers. But in a game of politics, only one would be declared winner and those who lost out would naturally feel bad in a way. What is important is imbibing the spirit of sportsmanship in every game knowing that there will certainly be winners and losers. Once that spirit flows among the political class, then there would be less acrimony after every poll. But as long as we see politics as a do-or-die game, then we would have to contend with more litigation.
The good thing is that everybody won. Nobody lost. The distinguished Sen. Sandy Ojang Onor, the PDP governorship candidate, is a great and well respected man. You can see that the people of Cross River state also have made a statement, by giving him over 140,000 votes. I don’t think anybody who had such votes should be seen as a nobody. So congratulations to Sandy too. And if, indeed, project Cross River state is what he has, if he would have moved Cross River state foreword as governor, then this is the time for him and other candidates to come together and join hands, with their friend and colleague, Senator Bassey Otu (governor-elect), to move Cross River State foreword. However, the Governor-elect, Senator Bassey Otu, has stated that it is a victory for all. In other words, it will be encompassing government. So, we do hope the opposition parties would see reasons by embracing the new administration and pass on their policy plans to the governor-elect.
We are all Cross Riverians yearning for the development and betterment of the citizens; we should put Cross River first in what we do now that election has come and gone. Let me also use this opportunity to commend Governor Ayade for opening the political space for the younger ones as seen in the calibre of candidates that emerged across board. Ayade has really shown that he is a statesman who believed in equity and justice and stood by it to the end. His project of back-to-South was the game changer and it has really brought peace and unity among the people of the state.
What are your expectations from the incoming administration at national and state level?
Normally after every election, there are always high expectations. So, this one is not going to be different especially considering the stiff contest and the big pairs of shoe that Governor Ben Ayade’s administration is leaving behind.
Again, government is a continuum and the Governor-elect, Sen. Bassey Otu, coming from a rich background of experience and capacity is equal to the task. The raw materials as seen in the industries located across the state and the natural resources as well as human capital that abound are solid foundation for the incoming administration to take off properly.
So we expect first, smooth transition, secondly running an inclusive administration and putting square peg in square holes and thirdly improving upon what he met on ground and finally adding colour and panache to the state. With these in place, the state is good to go and compete with other comity of states in the country. Again, we should expect sweet things ahead of us, in addition to what his Excellency, Governor Ben Ayade has done, especially in the areas of security, infrastructure jobs and employment and youth empowerment.
