He got the Peoples Democratic Party gubernatorial ticket without opposition, but come April this year,
Cross River State
governor, Liyel Imoke will square up with a former senator, Matthew
Tawo Mbu [jnr] and others in the election to decide the next governor
of the state. Mr Mbu, son of First Republic minister, Matthew Mbu was
senator from 1999 to 2003 under the PDP. He, however, fell out with the
then governor,
Donald Duke and
thus lost his re-election ticket to the current deputy senate leader,
Victor Ndoma-Egba in the Cross River Central Senatorial district.
The one-term
senator has since joined forces with the opposition and has emerged the
Action Congress of Nigerian [ACN] governorship candidate for the
general election. Both Messrs Mbu and Imoke are from the same Cross
River Central Senatorial district. While Mr Imoke hails from Abi Local
Government Area, Mr Mbu is from Boki.
Already, the ANPP
in the state has named Iheke Awa Solomon as its standard bearer for the
poll. He is a native of Yakurr local council in the same senatorial
district. Mr Solomon lost the 2007 election to Mr Imoke.
Mr Mbu, after
picking the ticket, promised to make the state an industrial hub if
elected, saying this was the only way to divest the state of its civil
service economy and turn things around for the better.
Shortly after
emerging his party’s candidate, the one time senator was presented with
a flag and broom of the party at its state secretariat by the state
chairman, Cletus Obun in a colourful ceremony watched by party
stalwarts and supporters.
“The only thing
that seems to be viable in this state is the state government itself.
Without the state government, there is nothing else. It is not supposed
to be so,” he said. “The state is a civil service state and when you
run a civil service state, you cannot do anything because all you end
up doing is sharing the little resources that come from the federation
account. It should not be so. We can turn this state into an industrial
hub. This is my agenda.”
Deplorable roads
The ACN candidate
explained that the transformation which his administration will pursue
will cause the moribund Calabar port and the export processing zone to
be revived and fully put into use for the economic sustenance of the
state.
The younger Mbu
decried the deplorable condition of federal and state roads in the
state and wondered what it will take to make the federal road from
Calabar to the northern parts of the state a dual carriage way to
improve the fortunes of the people.
He revealed that
the Tinapa Business Resort was not working because of the deplorable
condition of the state and federal roads and lack of vision by the
current leadership of the PDP controlled state government and promised
to turn the state economy around if voted into power in the April
election.
On why it took him
so long to declare his ambition for the highest office in the state, Mr
Mbu said he had to consult widely before entering the race to stop the
high rate of poverty and unemployment in the state.
He got the Peoples Democratic Party gubernatorial ticket without opposition, but come April this year, Cross River State governor, Liyel Imoke will square up with a former senator, Matthew Tawo Mbu [jnr] and others in the election to decide the next governor of the state.
Mr Mbu, son of First Republic minister, Matthew Mbu was senator from 1999 to 2003 under the PDP. He, however, fell out with the then governor, Donald Duke and thus lost his re-election ticket to the current deputy senate leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba in the Cross River Central Senatorial district.
The one-term senator has since joined forces with the opposition and has emerged the Action Congress of Nigerian [ACN] governorship candidate for the general election. Both Messrs Mbu and Imoke are from the same Cross River Central Senatorial district. While Mr Imoke hails from Abi Local Government Area, Mr Mbu is from Boki.
Already, the ANPP in the state has named Iheke Awa Solomon as its standard bearer for the poll. He is a native of Yakurr local council in the same senatorial district. Mr Solomon lost the 2007 election to Mr Imoke.
Mr Mbu, after picking the ticket, promised to make the state an industrial hub if elected, saying this was the only way to divest the state of its civil service economy and turn things around for the better.
Shortly after emerging his party’s candidate, the one time senator was presented with a flag and broom of the party at its state secretariat by the state chairman, Cletus Obun in a colourful ceremony watched by party stalwarts and supporters.
“The only thing that seems to be viable in this state is the state government itself.
Without the state government, there is nothing else. It is not supposed to be so,” he said. “The state is a civil service state and when you run a civil service state, you cannot do anything because all you end up doing is sharing the little resources that come from the federation account. It should not be so. We can turn this state into an industrial
hub. This is my agenda.”
Deplorable roads
The ACN candidate explained that the transformation which his administration will pursue will cause the moribund Calabar port and the export processing zone to be revived and fully put into use for the economic sustenance of the state.
The younger Mbu decried the deplorable condition of federal and state roads in the state and wondered what it will take to make the federal road from Calabar to the northern parts of the state a dual carriage way to improve the fortunes of the people.
He revealed that the Tinapa Business Resort was not working because of the deplorable condition of the state and federal roads and lack of vision by the current leadership of the PDP controlled state government and promised to turn the state economy around if voted into power in the April election.
On why it took him so long to declare his ambition for the highest office in the state, Mr Mbu said he had to consult widely before entering the race to stop the high rate of poverty and unemployment in the state.
He got the Peoples Democratic Party gubernatorial ticket without opposition, but come April this year,
Cross River State
governor, Liyel Imoke will square up with a former senator, Matthew
Tawo Mbu [jnr] and others in the election to decide the next governor
of the state. Mr Mbu, son of First Republic minister, Matthew Mbu was
senator from 1999 to 2003 under the PDP. He, however, fell out with the
then governor,
Donald Duke and
thus lost his re-election ticket to the current deputy senate leader,
Victor Ndoma-Egba in the Cross River Central Senatorial district.
The one-term
senator has since joined forces with the opposition and has emerged the
Action Congress of Nigerian [ACN] governorship candidate for the
general election. Both Messrs Mbu and Imoke are from the same Cross
River Central Senatorial district. While Mr Imoke hails from Abi Local
Government Area, Mr Mbu is from Boki.
Already, the ANPP
in the state has named Iheke Awa Solomon as its standard bearer for the
poll. He is a native of Yakurr local council in the same senatorial
district. Mr Solomon lost the 2007 election to Mr Imoke.
Mr Mbu, after
picking the ticket, promised to make the state an industrial hub if
elected, saying this was the only way to divest the state of its civil
service economy and turn things around for the better.
Shortly after
emerging his party’s candidate, the one time senator was presented with
a flag and broom of the party at its state secretariat by the state
chairman, Cletus Obun in a colourful ceremony watched by party
stalwarts and supporters.
“The only thing
that seems to be viable in this state is the state government itself.
Without the state government, there is nothing else. It is not supposed
to be so,” he said. “The state is a civil service state and when you
run a civil service state, you cannot do anything because all you end
up doing is sharing the little resources that come from the federation
account. It should not be so. We can turn this state into an industrial
hub. This is my agenda.”
Deplorable roads
The ACN candidate
explained that the transformation which his administration will pursue
will cause the moribund Calabar port and the export processing zone to
be revived and fully put into use for the economic sustenance of the
state.
The younger Mbu
decried the deplorable condition of federal and state roads in the
state and wondered what it will take to make the federal road from
Calabar to the northern parts of the state a dual carriage way to
improve the fortunes of the people.
He revealed that
the Tinapa Business Resort was not working because of the deplorable
condition of the state and federal roads and lack of vision by the
current leadership of the PDP controlled state government and promised
to turn the state economy around if voted into power in the April
election.
On why it took him
so long to declare his ambition for the highest office in the state, Mr
Mbu said he had to consult widely before entering the race to stop the
high rate of poverty and unemployment in the state.
