Nigeria Content Online

The governor of
Cross River State, Liyel Imoke, after assessing democracy in the
country in the last 11 years, last weekend said civil rule has come to
stay.

Mr Imoke said the
military has no excuse to stage a comeback, and advised Nigerians to
have faith in this new system of leadership, as it will take the
country to greater heights.

In a town hall
meeting with the people of the state to mark Democracy Day , the
governor said that since democracy means service to the people,
government at all levels is expected to serve those who elected them,
stressing his belief in popular governance and commitment to the Cross
River project. The governor noted that 11 years on, there was need to
thank God for peace which must be sustained because when the state
remains as one, it can grow bigger and better, adding that though there
were a lot of challenges in the past, opportunities should be created
for others to grow because politics is not a stepping stone or wealth
creation but service.

He said that
democracy has to mature with the introduction of electoral reforms
where those elected are responsible to the electorate “as the era of
carry go don end” because it shows a bad example to the youth, saying
that Cross River will certainly become an example of electoral reform,
by creating a level playing field for the people to chose whom they
want to represent them and not accept candidates presented by the
elders.

Imoke promised that
there will be open primaries which will be monitored by civil societies
and NGOs, because he wants elections to be peaceful, stating that he
has no candidates for local government chairmanship and as such no
caucus chairman has a candidate. This, he said, was the intention of
the party — to inculcate internal democracy which will give the people
hope.

On the economy, Mr
Imoke disclosed that the state has got back its revenue derived from
other sources. He stated that last year was very critical as its
revenue was taken to another state with the ceding of the oil wells,
disclosing that revenue from the Federation Account fell to about N600
million per month, while salaries alone gulp N1.3billion.

The governor
regretted that some of the programmes initiated by his government did
not create the expected impact, not because of lack of resources, but
because those given the responsibilities have not performed.

Citizen obligations

Imoke reminded the
people about the need to pay taxes as their social responsibility, to
enable the government provide social amenities.

Victor Ndoma-Egba,
the Deputy Senate Leader and senator representing Central Senatorial
District, said despite many setbacks, the country has witnessed 11
years of uninterrupted democracy which is the longest in the nation’s
political history since independence.

Mr Ndoma-Egba
explained that Cross River has a government with human face and heart
as can be seen with its various people-oriented projects, as some of
the strides covered in Cross River have eluded other states.

The Town Hall meeting was attended by members of the National
Assembly, state House of Assembly, local government council
chairpersons, members of the State Executive Council, traditional
rulers, politicians, women and youth organizations, civil
organizations, NGOs, and civil servants.