BY DOMINIC KIDZU
It will be difficult to count the number of times that Governor Ben Ayade has told the public that he plays politics with ethics. Although the claim has remained largely nebulous, since he has never offered a detailed explanation of what the ramifications and parameters are, the general assumption has been that he was going to level the playing field and allow the voting public to make its choice. With virtually nothing to leave behind as legacy outside the signature nepotism, corruption and under performance in office, one thought that like his senior brother, Buhari, he was going to at least allow Cross Riverians to freely make their choice about who should come and clean the miasma and stench of his ill – fated adventure.
Unfortunately, it now appears that those hopes were merely a pipe dream seeing as the Governor is pulling all stumps to ensure that the opposition is denied legitimate constitutional liberties that are the bedrock of free and fair elections, which also could have in some manner aggregated to any semblance of ‘politics with ethics’. One hopes that the claim of Politics With Ethics does not go the way of most of the miracle projects which the Governor has began and completed in the air, and which the citizens are not likely to ever see let alone enjoy or benefit from?
Only on Monday, the Caterpillar Movement, which is the advocacy arm of the People’s Democratic Party Governorship campaign framework wrote an open letter to the Governor outlining the frustrations and denials of their right to place their billboards and other publicity materials in the public space, even after they have made due payments and completed documentation with the public agency responsible for that purpose in the state. Ironically, the same agency has allowed candidates of the ruling party to place their advertisement all over the city with pomp and pageantry.
The Governor has a responsibility to ensure that all political parties and their candidates enjoy the same rights and privileges as the ruling party if he still remembers that he has always bragged about practicing Politics With Ethics. He has a responsibility to call the government agents at CRISA to order before they make him and his ruling party appear frightened by the momentum of the PDP candidate and lily- livered about the prospects of a fair contest. For CRISA to collect monies and revenues from the PDP and then block the party from enjoying the benefits of that expenditure is shameful to say the least and criminal by all standards.
The jury on Ben Ayade’s government returned with a guilty verdict since morning and clearly there is no official arm – twisting and village tactics against the opposition that will come anywhere near to changing that verdict. The part to honour open for the Governor is to play according to the rules and attempt to supervise a fair process leading to a credible election in 2023. Let me state here for clarity that the underhand manipulation being implemented right now even if they were to get away with it can still not ensure that Governor Ben Ayade will succeed in putting a cloned administration in his image and form in office in the year 2023.
