By Ini-Abasi Mboho
The question of where the next Governor of Akwa Ibom State, and the likely successor of Chief Godswill Akpabio in 2015 would come from has dominated political discourse in recent times. Expectedly, many commentators and interest groups have joined the fray to push their positions through. That is how it should be. Democracy allows for debates and plurality of opinions.
The disappointment however is that partisan groups have left the substance to focus on the mundane. Instead of emphasis on the intrinsic qualities of the next Governor and what he would have to offer, we are being assailed by where he should come from. For most people such considerations would amount to sacrificing merit on the altar of mediocrity and this should be strongly discouraged.
For instance in a recent press release, a group which goes by the name: “Eket Senatorial District Forum” stood history on the head through revisionism by attempting to justify (albeit unsuccessfully) why the next governorship contest in Akwa Ibom State should be the exclusive preserve of only aspirants from Eket Senatorial District.
In the release titled “Why Eket Senatorial District Must Produce Akwa Ibom Governor in 2015” the nebulous group went to great length to distort facts and our recent history and seeking to foist its retrogressive position on the rest of the state. The fulcrum of its argument is that “zoning of the office of the Governor has always been part of our political life in Akwa Ibom State,” as if they were all suffering from selective amnesia.
It has already been established before now that at no time since the inception of this democratic dispensation has the position of the governorship of the state been exclusively zoned to any senatorial district. Otherwise the modern day advocates of zoning in Akwa Ibom State would be hard put to explain why the present Deputy Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Obong Nsima Ekere, a distinguished son of Eket Senatorial District had contested against Chief Godswill Akpabio for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ticket in 2006.
The position of the Eket Senatorial District Forum, absurd as it is, would be like changing the goal post in the middle of a football game. This is because never in the history of electioneering in Akwa Ibom State had persons from any particular senatorial district been unconstitutionally barred from contesting for the governorship position, while it is donated as a trophy to another.
One may be inclined to ask: where were members of Eket Senatorial District Forum when their sons, in exercise of their democratic right, contested the governorship of the state against aspirants from other senatorial districts? Or are they telling us that if for instance any of their sons (and they were many) had won the PDP primaries in 2006 against Chief Akpabio, they would have annulled the election and dashed the ticket to someone from Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District because it was not their turn?
The members of Eket Senatorial District Forum and other such groups agitating for the unconstitutional and undemocratic barring of aspirants from other senatorial districts should listen to the wise counsel of one of their own and a distinguished son of the zone with strong democratic credentials: Mr Larry Esin. In a recent post in his facebook wall, Mr Esin said: “The question of our role in the governance of our State in 2015, a responsibility we welcome with open arms, will occupy and engage our thoughts and actions for the next three years. And rightfully so!
“But let us not be consumed, blinded and misled by the fledgling believe that it is "our turn" now. It has always been our turn. For as long as we have been a part of Akwa Ibom State, it has always been our turn and responsibility to vie for any political office and offer solutions to meet the development challenges of our State.
“The Ibibio's, Anangs, Ekid's, and all other ethnic groups will express their fundamental right to serve their State in 2015, and we cannot fault them for doing so. Oro will win the governorship not by evoking "Zoning", but by presenting the best marketable Oro candidate in the race and giving 100% of our support to that candidate period,” he said.
Mr Esin should know better and he cannot be faulted for having this democratic disposition and not joining in undemocratic agitations even when he may be a beneficiary. In 2006 Mr Esin (as already noted, from Eket Senatorial District) had a shot at the governorship in the state and indeed put up a credible performance by coming third in the PDP primaries which Chief Godswill Akpabio won. In the 2011 governorship election in Akwa Ibom State, he was the candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC).
In none of these instances had the Eket Senatorial District Forum been on record as having asked aspirants from their zone not to contest against a candidate from Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District. In any case, as always been the case, there were candidates also from Uyo Senatorial District because electoral contests in Akwa Ibom State have always been open for all. It therefore smacks of political mischief for the Eket Forum to suddenly wake up from a deep slumber and attempt to rewrite the political history of Akwa Ibom State through crude revisionism.
The interest of most progressive Akwa Ibom people is not where the next Governor will come from but what he would be bringing to the table. There is no doubt that Governor Godswill Akpabio has greatly transformed the state from a largely pedestrian civil service state to a destination of choice in Nigeria through the provision of world class infrastructural facilities. The people desire a Governor who would take the state to the next level.
Let me concede that it is the democratic right of people of Eket Senatorial District to vie for the Governorship of the state, just as it is the right of any other Akwa Ibomite, as guaranteed by the constitution. In the process, they have to put their best materials forward, and there are many of them. The campaign on who will govern Akwa Ibom State in 2015 should be hinged on the agenda of the aspirants and not their ethnicity.
Any aspirant who is sure of what he has to offer would not be afraid to compete with others. Rather than dissipate their energy on zoning and attempting to rewrite our recent political history, those agitating for the so-called zoning should channel such energy towards producing a marketable candidate that can hold his own. Seeking to close the democratic space even before the election could only foist a mediocre on a State with many intelligent people.
Many people desire a Governor in the mould of Chief Akpabio who will approach governance with a liberal disposition in appointments and execution of projects, a Governor whose constituency would be Akwa Ibom State and not his Senatorial District alone. The campaign by Eket Senatorial District Forum is suspicious and has the potential in alienating a large segment of Akwa Ibom people. It gives the unfortunate impression that whoever should emerge from such an undemocratic process of shutting the democratic space would come with a baggage and an ethnic agenda to execute.
Mr Mboho, a Public Affairs Analyst writes from Uyo.
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