Nigeria Content Online

Testing the
intelligent quotient of aspirants on the platform of the PDP in Cross
River State is now a precondition to receiving the party’s nomination
form, the party’s leadership has said.

Those who fail the
aptitude test are barred from even picking nomination forms, following
the resolve not to give power to those that are barely lettered. The
test, which includes both written and oral, is administered by the
caucus members for each of the 18 local government chapters.

This exercise, it
was understood, is also to screen out those who are members of the
numerous cult groups bestriding the political landscape of the state.
This is in line with state governor, Liyel Imoke’s resolve to bar
cultists from holding political office in the state.

“Most of the
politicians in the state know those who are cult members,” said a
member of the party leadership who asked to remain anonymous. “Those in
the know have been feeding the state government and security agencies
with information on such members with a view to disqualifying them and
thus save the state from further embarrassment of violent cult clashes
during and after elections.”

Calabar South
chapter of the PDP took the lead in administering aptitude tests on
aspirants into the council’s political offices. The test was meant to
assess the mental capability of the aspirants in view of the fact that
most outgoing councillors in the area are school dropouts. Party
leaders say poorly educated persons in political positions in the state
have proved to be pawns in the hands of the educated ones.

In 2007, during an
informal screening by the party of those seeking office of councillor,
two aspirants did not know what the three arms of government meant. The
two told the panel that the three arms of government were Mark Four, AK
47 and Pump Action, all referring to the guns that they were familiar
with in fighting rivals.

This stunned the
panel, yet the duo still made it into the council because they had
godfathers to see them through. It is these so-called godfathers that
sponsor street urchins-turned-cultists to fight their enemies on their
behalf during electioneering campaigns.

Prominent PDP
chieftains in Calabar South who conducted the aptitude test include
MGershom Bassey and two members of the state House of Assembly, Orok
Otu Duke and Maurice Orok Edem. The test, which commenced in the
afternoon of last Saturday, ended in the early hours of the following
day.

Local government
chairman aspirants who participated in the test include: the incumbent
council chairman, Andem Ekpo Bassey; his deputy, Majorie Eyo Asuquo;
Charles Effanga; Edem Bassey; Ewa Henshaw and two others. All the over
50 aspirants for councillors also took part.

Not a witch-hunt

The result was
announced on the floor after the tests had been marked by the panel of
examiners, which included a few academics. Mrs Asuquo came first,
followed by Messrs Henshaw and Effanga. The incumbent chairman came a
distant fifth position. Those outside the first three positions stand
disqualified.

Mr Duke said the
result of the first three persons has been forwarded to the state
secretariat of the PDP, as aspirants qualified to contest the primary
for the party’s ticket for the August 28 local government elections in
the state.

The same situation
applied to councillor aspirants. The test, he said, showed that most of
the aspirants do not know simple current affairs or what the offices
they are seeking entail.

“This exercise,” he
said, “is not meant to witch hunt anybody, but to the test the IQ of
those aspiring to lead. We can no more allow illiterates to lead us. We
want to bring sanity to bear in public office. We want leaders that
know their onions and councillors who can make robust legislation, to
stand for elections.”

He said the
aptitude test proved that the standard of education in Nigeria has
truly fallen, as most of the candidates showed that they cannot spell
simple words, yet they parade good grade certificates.

Other Local Government Areas across the state will also conduct
aptitude tests for those aspiring on the platform of the PDP.
Councillors in Cross River State, on assumption of office, are given a
brand new car, receive a furniture allowance running into millions of
naira, are supposed to quarterly organise constituency meetings and
deliver lectures, among other things “All this,” Mr Duke says, “demands
that councillors and council heads should be up and doing academically
so that they don’t embarrass their people when they meet their
counterparts from other parts of the country.”