APC Gov't in C' River Lacks Zeal to Initiate New Programmes, Says Vena, PDP Chairman 

Judex OKORO

Venatius Ikem, Esq, is the Cross River State chapter chairman of the People's Democratic Party and a former National Publicity Secretary of the party.

In this exclusive interview with THE BEAGLE NEWS, he discusses the challenges the party faces, present state of development in Cross River State and plans to reposition the party ahead of 2027.

Excerpts: 

After over two decades in power, your party is now the main opposition party in the Cross River State, how are you coping with this reality?

It's not easy to lose power after about sixteen years and remain the same. I noticed that after the last elections, the party has lost much of its vigour and even the expectation of the exco coming from the background that we were no longer in government was too much to comprehend. Even our ordinary rank and file so to speak, the transition between being in government and being out of government, this reality has not sank in very well. So, they expect the party to continue to be what it was when we were in government that is not realistic.
 I believe that within this period, much of this has been spoken about and I believe that most people are beginning to realise that this is the reality we face which is that there party can’t do much.

To the best of my knowledge and based on experience, I think the party is very healthy. We have had to endure some defections as it is to be expected but nothing so groundbreaking as to shake the foundations of the party. I consider it a process of purification. We will in the end see more genuine membership based on principles and conviction. Not expectations of what the party can give them. 
I believe we have a robust future. 

 We are caught in the disquiet from the national interplay of forces beyond our control. We hope that reorganisation from the national will naturally impact on our state too. On our own, we are making efforts to sustain the structures of the Party as best as we can with the help of our National Assembly members (NASS) who support all our programmes. 

However, in terms of repositioning ourselves to work towards coming back to government, I believe that our members have remained very resolute. 2027 is already the drumbeat of 2027 has started; the shadow is very much with us and it calls for deeper reflection so that everybody can rededicate himself towards working for the success of the party in the next general elections.  

This is almost two years on the saddle, how would you rate the present APC administration in the state?

There is an embarrassing non activity that baffles many of us. Because truth be told, we expected much more from Gov. Prince Otu, given his antecedents as a Legislator. There is an appearance of lack of preparedness for the huge task of governance beyond the mundane of sustaining salary payment to civil servants and repairing potholes. The zeal for initiating new programs is completely lacking. There is no innovation of any kind by whatever name you may want to call it. That's not governance.

 We expect like the Donald Duke era, initiative of carnival Calabar, Tinapa, The Ranch Resort, the Clean an Green initiatives that left Cross River State on the map as the cleanest state in Nigeria, you name them. Governor Liyel Imoke initiated urban renewal programs or at least continued from where the previous administration stopped.

Imoke embraced rural development with zest under RUDA and others, Urban water supply etc. Where is the Prince Otu Administration in innovation? I think the current APC-led government in Cross River state needs to borrow a leaf from Duke and Liyel's administration. The state seems to be going down and bogged down by internal wranglings and struggle for power control.

Disorganised as Gov. Ayade was, he attempted his own initiative of industrialisation, though with disastrous results but then he tried to do something. What is the government even trying to do? Absolutely nothing and it is scandalous given the humongous monies presently accruing to state coffers and the continuing state government capture of local government treasuries. 

It's spoken about everywhere that the entire Cross River State is at a standstill. Looking back, I think it's unfortunate. Today, even the governor's immediate constituency, the people there think that the previous government was even doing much better for them and the generality of the state than what is presently going on. 

So, it behooves on PDP to put its acts together and I think the challenge lies mostly with us the exco to find a way to re-harness the potentials of the party because we have the potentials, we have the structure more than any other party in this state and indeed in this country.