Law scholar to challenge Ayade, Jarigbe for C'River North APC Senate ticket
From Aniekan Aniekan, Calabar
Dr. John Onyi-Agaba, a business law scholar and farmer from Bekwarra LGA has announced his intention to vie for the Cross River North Senatorial Ticket on the platform of the All Progressives Congress in Cross River State.
The Senate hopeful who is also the CEO of Snowspring Group cited poverty and underdevelopment in the district as the motivating factor for his decision to vie for the ticket insisting that the district needs a new path to its development.
According to him, "You will not understand poverty except you experience poverty and the motivational factor primarily is to give back to my people. There's a path I've travelled, and it wasn't a palatable path at all.
"As a people, are we doing better? Not at all. You see, when we hide behind the curtains of pretence, we won't experience growth. But when we face facts, when we see things and discuss things holistically, we will produce positive results.
"Do we have a functional primary health centre that we can successfully carry out a major surgery? No. Are you telling me that it's not achievable? It is. Why? It's very possible.
"For a young man like me, who have gone through the hurdles of life, I want to see if I can help my people in my own little way. And by so doing, I want to go represent them", he said.
He also stressed that former governor Prof. Ben Ayade and Senator Jarigbe Agom have done well for the district and are excellent leaders but the district needs a change.
"If anybody says Ayade has not done well, the person is lying. If anybody says that Senator Jarigbe is not doing well, they are all lying. These are leaders that have done impeccably well.
"However for growth to take place, there must be a change. They have given, they have paid their dues. They have also given their own quota back to their people.
"They should create an avenue, a platform for a new person to contribute his own quota. With that, growth will be better", the senatorial hopeful said.
He said accountability is fundamental in his desire to serve and also his major selling point and he wants to be held to account by his people.
On zoning, he said power is not based on sentiment, neither is it given but it is taken, saying he is out to take power not through violence but through diplomacy.
The Cross River North Senate seat is expected to be one of the most contested races in the state APC primaries with former governor Senator Ben Ayade warming up to vie for the seat which is currently occupied by Senator Jarigbe Agom.
