C/River APC united, ready to sweep all stakes in council poll – Etta
Ntufam Hilliard Etagbo Etta is the National Vice Chairman, All Progressives Congress (APC), South South. He was at the Ernest Etim Bassey Press Centre, Calabar, Cross River State recently to relax and share ideas with some of his contemporaries. EDEM EDEM, cornered him and he spoke on several issues including, Paris Fund, President Muhammadu Buhari’s attitude to work from home, Voter’s registration, defections and factions in APC, among other issues.
Cross River State governor, Prof Ben Ayade was reported to have collected Paris Club fund alongside other governors in the country, nobody heard of it or what he has done with it, what is your take on this?
Our governor, Prof Ben Ayade has not declared that he has collected the US160 million from the Federal Government. We must ask him to declare it publicly.
Is he thinking that we do not have people in this state to challenge him? The Head of Service of the Federation, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Prosecution, the Chief of Naval Staff, the Minister of Niger Delta Ministry, the chairman of NDDC, the National Vice Chairman of APC, etc, are all from Cross River State, appointed by the APC government.
So how dare he think that he can blindfold the state and pocket this money like he did on other bail funds from the Federal Government.
One of which his younger brother, Frank, was accused by EFCC of having pocketed N4 Billion.
How come that he has secretly collected this money and has not bothered to disclose to people of the state that he has so collected the money.
Since after he collected this money, pensioners have not been paid, no projects have been executed, nothing has been changed.
Gov Ayade will not just collect $160 million and pocket it just like the last ones. Well by 2019, the immunity conferred on him by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria will elapse and we will jail him.
If he thinks he can fritter away our resources and go away scot free like Senator Liyel Imoke, he is lying.
He thinks that Liyel Imoke has gone away, let me tell you Liyel has not gone away free.
I think that the critical sectors of the country, like the media, for instance, should be able to ask Gov Ayade what he has done with all the bailout funds, including the recently received one, the Paris Fund Club.
This fund is outside the normal federal allocation to the state. This one just happens to be an unforeseen largess from the Federal Government.
This should help the state to defray outstanding debts and other bills, which have become a disgrace to the state.
Well, I know that the governor of Cross River has no sense of shame. If he can go about dancing ‘showkee’ with collar of his shirt straightened up like marijuana smokers, he does not have shame.
On the forth coming local government elections in the state, what is APC doing in this regards?
APC is the only party in the state that is preparing for the local government election. Other parties including the PDP are dead.
We are the only party that is going about the registration exercise. But our people have been stopped from mounting public advertisement by CRISAA, from pasting their posters. On this, we have decided to sue them.
If not, you would have seen our campaign posters everywhere because we are the only people embarking on campaign for the local government elections in the state.
We are the only people that have sold forms for our prospective aspirants. We have conducted party primaries for our councillors.
We shall soon conduct another for the chairmanship slot. We have fully sensitised our aspirants and electorate on the issue of continuous voter’s registration.
In the event that Governor Ben Ayade refuses to conduct local government election as it is unfolding now, what would you do?
Already you may be aware that we were in court over this with the state government, and we got a favourable court order that finds harmony with the position of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
And the apex court has made it abundantly clear that it is unconstitutional to have any other apart from elected officials at the local government council’s administration.
But we will not be surprised if Ayade will continue with the impunity that PDP has been known for, that has become the acceptable government in the state.
But certainly we will always drag them to court over such impunity, and to ventilate the position of the party, which is that anyone occupying position of the local government chairman must have been democratically elected.
It’s said that APC national leaders from Cross River State are factionalised, what is your view on this? Is it actually that APC has factions, home and Abuja fronts?
I do not have any faction in the Cross River APC. Pastor Usani Usani, the Minister for Niger Delta Ministry does not. It is wrong to say that the minister and I do not see eye to eye. The minister and I are political associates.
We have never been enemies. But that is not to say that we cannot disagree on policies. Even if I was to be situated with my twin brother, we can always disagree on policy issue.
I hold very strong views on many issues. Minister Usani also happens to be a man who holds very strong views on many issues.
Therefore, it cannot be imagined that these kinds of people cannot have disagreements bordering on policy issues.
Disagreement does not mean factionalisation. To me, politics is propelled by self interests. One of the pillars of democracy and politics is the capacity for crisis management and resolution.
So what gives anyone the impression that APC in Cross River is in factions? The word factionalisation has been bandied around for too long without anyone caring to ask the actual meaning of the word.
Sir John Ochala is the chairman of the party in the state whom everyone well accepts. I would think that the ever quarrelsome and cantankerous PDP are behind the speculation that there is faction in our party.
Still on APC, why is it that the state chairman is still operating under the capacity of acting chairman, two years gone?
It is because we are yet to conduct congress to fill vacancies in the party. Cross River is not a peculiar state at all. We also have acting chairman in Adamawa State because the chairman, Mrs Binta, contested Senatorial election and won.
The one who actually took over from her passed on. May his soul rest in perfect peace. Let us articulate this properly before we are seen as the megaphone of the dying PDP.
Interestingly, today your party is receiving defectors from PDP, how do you see this development, especially when some of them are alleged to be corrupt, are they coming to your party for cover?
Our arms are always widely open to welcome every defector to APC, especially in Cross River State. The constitution of Nigeria guarantees freedom of association. No one can take this away from Governor Ayade who is reported to be interested in crossing over to APC.
But I will never tolerate his infantile disposition in our party if and when he comes in, but I cannot stop Gov Ayade from coming to the party, any time he wants to.
We cannot stop anyone interested to come to APC because after all this would be the first time in the state for people of Cross River to join the progressives. Whether anyone likes it or not, APC represents progress.
I find it very amusing that people have already condemned a man before hearing from him. The Minister of Transport, and former governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi who has been bandied to be corrupt, for instance, why hasn’t his successor, Nyesome Wike, been able to put up a formal charge against him?
This is because he has access to all official documents that transpired during his predecessor’s tenure.
I have not seen, heard, may be you can remind me, when Gov Wike has sued Amaechi over alleged corruption. It should not be only the EFCC, ICPC or the federal police that have the powers to drag anyone before the courts over allegation of corruption.
The state government can also prosecute anybody. Why has Wike not sued Amaechi, instead he is crying all over the pages of newspapers.
To those who criticise us for welcoming decampees, I also ask, is there any way in the constitution that debars us from doing so? In the APC, we have preponderance of the progressives. We also have people that have come for their private and personal interests.
But as the ideological firmament of Nigeria begins the process of congealment, the situation as at this time is quite fluid. A time shall come when the proper congealment will begin to take place.
This will be when the people who ought to be in APC but are in PDP and other parties will steadily find their way back home. A time will come that people will return to the parties that best suit their ideologies.
How do you view the recent story that President Buhari is performing his official duties from his house?
We make a mountain of a mole hill. I do not know if you have ever visited the Aso Rock villa. If you have, you would have seen that the President’s official residence is just about two or three minutes walk to his office.
His work can not suffer as a result of him working from his official residence.
Beside, you know that his ticket comes with his vice, the very active, energetic and wonderfully gifted Professor Yemi Osibanjo.
Even if the President was so indisposed, the presidential work will never suffer because Osibanjo is well gifted and endowed.
The man who asked the question, who is the Presidency was not literate enough! Babachir Lawal, the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, is not my friend. The President had suspended him.
How can anyone ask such a stupid and illiterate question? The presidency is not President Buhari, but a collection of the president, vice and other key presidential aides.
This is 24 months into Governor Ayade’s administration, what impact has his administration made? How would you assess these 24 months? Are you impressed?
My assessment is that, he is abysmal failure. He has been a big disaster. No governor has ever brought us this low! We are at the lowest ebb as a people.
The processes and excellence that were created by former governor, Donald Duke have completely been destroyed. Between 2002 and 2007, the office of statistics confirms that the state was the fastest growing economy in Nigeria. Today we should be competing with Bornu and Sambia forests…
In your view, what do you think is the problem with Cross River State?
It is this culture of collective silence by key stakeholders, elders and leaders of the state. It should be their collective responsibility to create a better environment for those coming after them. I do not care a bit.
By 7th of July I will be 55 years old. If perhaps the goons and the very excited members of Ayade government come to snuff out my life it would not mean anything to me, I would happily die with a smile on my face.
But I warn them, if they shoot me, they should not miss because I will certainly shoot back. If because I speak out against poor governance in my state, and they come for my life, they should clearly kill me, otherwise I do not suffer fools gladly.
The government of Governor Ayade was alleged to have completed arrangement to sell National Museum, what’s your take on this?
He cannot sell it. Let me inform you that the National Museum and Monument sits on the lands that my grandfathers ceded to the Federal Government of Nigeria. Gov Ayade will not buy our land. Even if he uses the coercive powers of the state to sell it or buys it, we will make sure that we get it back. We will also disgrace him.
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So what gives anyone the impression that APC in Cross River is in factions? The word factionalisation has been bandied around for too long without anyone caring to ask the actual meaning of the word. Sir John Ochala is the chairman of the party in the state whom everyone well accepts. I would think that the ever quarrelsome and cantankerous PDP are behind the speculation that there is faction in our party.
