The African Democratic Congress, ADC, in Cross River State has collapsed its structure into the Labour Party, saying it’s now supporting the candidate of the party, Mr. Peter Obi for the February 25 elections.
Making the declaration in Calabar at the weekend, Mr. Effiong Nyong, the gubernatorial flag bearer of the ADC said it is expedient for the party to join forces with LP to elect a president who can give the country true and purposeful leadership.
“It is not by accident that ADC in Cross River State has decided to join the Obidiient Movement. Peter Obi is for president so let everybody with PVC vote for him on 25 February,” he said.
He said Obi has the qualities that stand him out among all the presidential candidates jostling for the position and should therefore be supported by well-meaning Nigerians.
“Anytime someone wakes up, it is his morning. The Yorubas have occupied the slot, the Hausa Fulani have had their time, and the South-south have been there, let the Igbo man also do the turn of the Igbo. If you assess the intellectual capacity of all those gunning for the presidency, their health status, what they say in their campaign and the truth that is embedded in it, you will agree that Peter Obi is the right person to lead this country at this time.”
Nyong said it is time Nigeria left behind favoritism to the land where things work and there is no time that is late to do so.
Unveiling his programme for the state, the ADC flag bearer envisioned that he has the capacity to change the state in two years and if he fails, he should be asked to resign.
“Those in authority in the state have brazenly been taking what belongs to the people and leaving them in penury and squalor. If the Bakassi Stabilisation Fund for which the state has been collecting since 2008 was invested in Bakassi, the place would have been a city by now but that is not the case.
“When I become governor, my first job will be to set us free. We will recover what we need to recover, reconcile with who we need to reconcile with, meet everyone we need to meet and work with everyone we need to work with which is in our interest.
He declared that he would create additional twenty-two development centers from the eighteen local governments that currently exist in the state to create jobs, and bring development nearer to the people to avoid overcrowding in Calabar where everyone in the state resorts to find work and leisure.
“To tackle youth employment, there are 37 industries at the Export Processing Zone and if each of those industries employs 2000 workers we can have a minimum of 20,000 workers but currently there are less than fifty in each of those industries. I will partner with the Federal Export Processing Zones Authority to make the place become maximally functional.
He said engaging youths in productive ventures like sports, creative arts, and agricultural activities will keep them busy and distract them from crime.
“hereditarily, we have so many resources to make us rich but we cannot access it because there is a lack of capacity by those in leadership positions. My social contract with the state is that if in two years things don’t start happening, I will resign.”