By Chief (Barr) Utum Eteng

The 37th  President of the United States of America, Richard Nixon, in his nomination acceptance speech in 1968 said “let us begin by committing to the truth, to see it like it is, and tell it like it is, to find the truth, to speak the truth and live with the truth. That’s what we’ll do”.

President Buhari

His successor, Gerald Rudoff Ford, the 38th President of the United States said “truth is the glue that holds the government together”.

From the perspective of these leaders, truth can pass to be a universal virtue which when spoken sets a Nation and indeed all mortals free. It neither fades nor diminishes; it’s like light over darkness. In realization of this prized virtue, the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture charged all Nigerians to “say something, if they see something”.

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Before this preamble is developed, let this opportunity be used to congratulate the people’s President, Muhammadu Buhari (GCFR) in particular and Nigerians in general for giving their mandate to the President for the second term in the 2019 presidential elections. This is a mandate well deserved. May God, the giver of power bless the President and those Nigerians through whose instrumentality it happened.

This treatise is directed not only to the President, but also to the national leadership of the APC. It is principally without equivocations meant to sound a caution to these APC leaders as the President settles down to appoint Nigerians, as Ministers and Special Advisers to occupy the front burner with him as he navigates the Country in this onerous task of nation building.

The word “caution” here is used to mean, “to-be-fore warned is to be fore armed”.

It is imperative going by sections 147(3) and 151 of the Nigerian 1999 Constitution as amended that, the President “shall appoint at least one Minister from each of the 36 States” of Nigeria and the Federal Capital “who shall be an indigene of such State”. However, the choice of who is appointed is solely and indisputably within the realm of the President’s personal discretion, which he may exercise in consultation with some of his key associates and party leaders.

It is a settled principle of law on the use of discretion that, for the exercise of a discretionary power to be meaningful, effective and result-oriented, several collateral factors must be taken into consideration. Some of these include; team players to drive home logically the vision, mission and synergy of government and the ruling party, for those already enjoying an appointment, their ability to work with the state party and recognition of the supremacy of the national Party and its leadership.

It is a known fact that now that the presidential election has been won, nearly all APC elders/leaders are lobbying to be appointed Minister, to take the Cross River State slot. I will wholeheartedly concede to the President, the capacity/ability of Nigerians to ceaselessly employ all manner of tactics, including blackmail, to lobby for positions/jobs, even when they know they have no capacity to perform creditably well on these jobs. Even at that, they still go ahead to lobby for it. It is therefore in realization of this challenge that you are likely to face, that one sounds this caution to the President and to the APC leaders who are the conscience of the APC. The desire for the government to succeed and also to the sorry state of the APC in Cross River State before appointing a Minister from Cross River State shall be the guide. It is important to learn from the experience of the bitterness of yesterday, bad blood in the State APC during the last election, coupled with the wholesale sabotage by some APC leaders who today may claim to be angels. This is a weightier responsibility placed on your discretion.

From an objective perspective, it is important to honestly state here that some of the lobbyists, if appointed, can not in any manner howsoever distance their personal interest from the synergy required to build an improved APC in Cross River State. The bitter experience of yesterday is still fresh in the minds of APC members in the State, as such, time and care has to be taken to appoint a Minister who will heal the wounds inflicted. The wounds caused by the fractionalization in the State APC are deep.

It is a clear statement of fact that, apart from the election of the President which was a common denominator to all APC members in Nigeria, all the other positions contested in Cross River State were up to the election date deliberately made to be uncertain due to the antics of some APC leaders. The voters in Cross River State amidst this confusion reacted negatively against the APC in the subsequent elections. The state APC up till today is a tower of Babel where faction members speak different tunes. Nearly every other day, one or more spurious, conflicting court orders/judgments are pushed out to the detriment of the party.

In the face of the foregoing sad narrative, one therefore makes this passionate appeal to the President and to the APC leaders to take real pains, time and care before settling for whosoever may be appointed Minister from Cross River State this time around. Care must be taken not to appoint a controversial politician, because not all controversial politicians are popular politicians in the true sense of the word, just as not all popular politicians are good politicians.

Let it be emphasized that one has no personal preference for any one particular person, the discretion/judgment is entirely that of the President as may be assisted by APC leaders. It will manifestly be counter-productive and suicidal, if you appoint any member who has been known to be or identified with any of the warring factions Minister from Cross River State.

For the search to be meaningful, it is pertinent to be assisted by the APC leadership to find answers to the following questions:

1. How have the party big wigs funded the party over the years?
2. Who funded the last election?
3. How open was the funding process, if any?

d.Who sabotaged the efforts of the others for his/her selfish interest?

1. What is the performance of the party in constituencies of these big lobbyists?
2. How liberal have the APC big names been to party members?
3. How have been their individual performances in previous opportunities?
4. How have these big names impacted in the socio-politico-economic development of the state, their constituencies and communities?

Answers to these questions are necessary in considering any for the ministerial slot of Cross River State.

In Cross River State can be found men/women who are eminently qualified, matured, consummate technocrats and politicians with thorough credentials to pull everybody in the APC together and bring about much desired dividends of democracy which for 20 years has eluded us.

A STITCH IN TIME SAVES NINE.

Chief (Barr) Utum Eteng

Private Legal Practitioner and APC

Member, Cross River State, Calabar

Member, Legal Sub Committee of the Presidential Campaign Council

Member, Sub Committee on Contact and Mobilization PC Council

Deputy National Treasurer, Presidential Support Committee (PSC)

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