Monday 30 December 2013

I will not anoint any successor – Imoke

Cross River State Governor, Liyel Imoke, has said he will not anoint any person as his successor in 2015.

Imoke dropped the bombshell late Tuesday when he hosted the state’s Elders’ Consultative Forum at Government House in Calabar.

He said he was particularly disturbed by pressure from  a group of persons and the media compelling him to anoint his successor, adding that he had never been part of a process that foisted candidates on the people.

According to him, the people should own the process that throws up people for elective positions.

Imoke said, “I have seen publications where people say let the governor announce his candidate. For me, that is not democracy and it is not the right kind of politics. I believe strongly that even that process of producing the governor should be one that all of us own or can lay claim to.

“We should allow candidates who will say that they have met with the senatorial zones, elders, the caucuses and groups and we have discussed, and then the people will assess them based on their credentials, capacity and vision.”

Imoke, who stressed that the governorship of the state was too much of a risk to be personalised, warned that there would be no room for political jobbers to transform themselves into the voice of the people.

He said, “But when people stand up and say ‘I want to be governor by hook or by crook,’ we get worried and ask what is all that for? What is the motive? Is it a private or collective agenda and how do we sustain this in a very challenging environment?”

No comments:

Post a Comment

add your comments!