I wrote an article on 27 September 2021 titled "THE CALABAR OGOJA ACCORD HAS BEEN OVERTAKEN BY EVENTS," in which I had postulated that the Calabar Ogoja Accord dated July 1980 only spelled out the basis of the political relationship and power-sharing between the old Calabar and Ogoja senatorial districts of the old Cross River State, and therefore no longer relevant to the present political and constitutional realities of the present Cross River State and cannot determine which part of the State the next Governor should come from in 2023.
Therefore, I will urge politicians to stop invoking the Accord as the premise for zoning the governorship position to circumvent the democratic processes or push their opponents out of the race through technical knockout. Let the people exercise their fundamental right of free choice, which is the foundation of the democratic process.
For the essence of clarity and to leave nobody in doubt, I equally reproduced verbatim the content of the Calabar Ogoja accord, so readers would have the opportunity to read it first hand, rather than relying on obviously distorted third parties accounts.
The Accord showed that it was essentially all about sharing political positions such as Governor, Deputy Governor, Head of Service, Secretary to Government, etc. in the new State composing of old the Calabar and Ogoja senatorial districts in the old Cross River State; the signatories were agitating for in the 1980s.
Certainly, the Accord had no bearing on the present political and constitutional realities, especially the 2023 elections. The signatories had submitted a request to the National Assembly to create a State from the old Cross River State. The Accord was a working document that spelled out power arrangement and sharing in the State they had requested to be created.
After 41 years, the Accord is no longer relevant to who gets what when is not relevant to who gets what, when, and how in the Cross River state of today. The Accord has never been invoked and applied since the Akwa Ibom States was carved out of the old Cross River State, renamed Cross River State by the decree promulgated by the military in 1987, giving legal backing to the creation of Akwa Ibom State.
In 1998 in preparation for return to Democratic civil rule in the country on the 29 May 1999, we saw politicians from Cross River North, Cross River Central, and Cross River south aspired to be Governor. From the North, the respected Kanu Godwin Agabi SAN was the strongest aspirant in the PDP and was expected to clinch the ticket but was edged surprisingly by the shenanigans of Nigerian politics.
Also, late Hon Mark Ukpo contested the governorship ticket under the defunct All Nigeria Party, APP, against the young Donald Duke, who had snatched the PDP ticket against all permutations. Also, late Etubom Bassey Ekpo Bassey contested the governorship under the defunct Alliance for Democracy platform.
In 2003, the incumbent, Donald Duke, was challenged by various candidates from Cross River North, Cross River Central, and Cross River south, including Dr usani usani, Professor Etim Nyong, major Akpang Obi Odu, John Oyom Okpa, etc.
In 2007, politicians from the three senatorial districts contested the governorship race against Senator Liyel Imoke, who emerged victoriously and was elected again in 2011.
Politicians should not rely on zoning or find short corners to acquiring political power. Whoever is interested in the Governor and thinks that he has what it takes, the competency and vision to govern the State should face the electorate. The sovereign lies with the people, not some political cabals or hegemonists who will sit in the dead of night to handpick our Governor. The fact all we had governors from the three senatorial districts of the State.
Nobody can say this is the turn of my group or district because it has gone around all the three districts in the State. So the distortion by some politicians that the cross River state is divided into imaginary political blocs Calabar and Ogoja are not tenable. It is a figment of their political imagination, which has the basis to present constitutional realities in the State.
Politicians should work hard to win the electorate's hearts by telling and persuading the people what they would have for voting for them and desist from using short corners to eliminate their opponents.
Let everybody interested in the governorship, contest, and zoning start from the senatorial district from whoever emerges as Governor.
OKOI OBONO-OBLA
Publisher: Don Martyn L.O
Ikeduru APC Media Hub
08032950897
Ikeduruapcmediahub@gmail.com
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