From Judex Okoro, Calabar
A United Nations Peace Ambassador and Deputy Majority Leader, Cross River State House of Assembly, Hon. Hilary Bisong Ekpang, has pledged to turn the state assembly into a solution-provider if he is elected as the speaker of the 10th Assembly. He said the Assembly under his watch would be a bastion for legislative advancement and political development of the state, even as he enjoined the Cross Riverians not to entertain any fear on whether the legislators would work for the overall interest of the citizens.
In this interview, Bisong who represents Boki State Constituency 2, and was re-elected for the third tine speaks about his interest to be the speaker, the controversy that surround the zoning of the Speaker and other issues.
The10th Cross River State House of Assembly will be inaugurated on June 13. As one of returning and the ranking legislators, what should the people of Cross River expect from the House?
This is the question everybody has been asking. Yes, Cross Rivererians should expect a solution-providing 10th Assembly because it is the job of the House of Assembly to provide solutions to complex governance issues. We are going to warehouse the government’s policies and provide a legislative framework for such policies to operate. We will create boundaries of operations for government policies. We will provide solutions to social issues. For instance, the state cannot continue to be treating waste management as a social issue. People should pay for proper disposal of their wastes. So, we are going to encourage government to hold an environmental summit, where citizens and stakeholders will be engaged so that an effective waste management policy that meets the need of time can be provided. That is our duty. Before now, the government was handling all that, but with the dwindling resources, we would advocate for division of the state into three, and given to contractors to manage waste, while the government manages the waste dump sites. We need to return to that.
There are certain laws that cannot meet the present age of governance. For example, the traditional rulers’ edict should be repealed. It cannot meet the present realities. And why there is rampant breakdown of law and order is because the traditional institution cannot be held accountable to certain things. Such should be repealed, in collaboration with the traditional institution and re-enacted into a better one. Once the traditional institutions are effective, with good local government system, most of the communal crisis would be abated.
You see, the people of Bakassi have suffered a lot from the ceding of Bakassi peninsula and lack of respect for the Green Tree Agreement. We should provide mechanisms that would bring succour to the people. We are going to create a commission that will cater to the welfare of the displaced people of Bakassi, through the N500m monthly subvention to Bakassi. If we judiciously utilise the money, it would go a long way to ameliorating the plight of the displaced people in Bakassi.
We will come up with workable and realistic budgets. The Otu-led administration has dwelt more on instruments for good governance; instruments that will bring multinational organisations and donor agencies back to Cross River. We need to operate a due process regime that meets the needs of open governance. We will amend the counterpart fund law to attract more donor projects to the state. Our budgets must meet international best practice, with positive performance, which would bring grants to the State. We will take our budgets to African Development Bank and ECOWAS Bank for support.
One of the biggest instruments in attracting international donor support is the budget. The vice president of the ECOWAS Bank was in Calabar during the inauguration. I have had a session with the ECOWAS Bank officials. They can support us in legislation and capacity building. We will set the tone for socio-economic policies and governance of the state. We will expand stakeholders’ engagements, and carry out citizens-centred legislation that would affect the citizenry positively. Our sessions will be aired live through our social media platforms. We are going to return verbatim reports of everything a member says on the floor.
Some are saying that with the governor and deputy governor of the state being former lawmakers, there would be a robust relationship. But, there also equally who said the House might be a rubber stamp. What is your reaction?
We are lucky that we have a governor, who carved a niche for himself as a consummate lawmaker. He understands how the legislative arm works and we believe he is going to give us maximum support. And the deputy governor too is a fine legislator. It will leave no room for failure. I foresee the 10th Assembly breaking the record as the best legislative House since the creation of the state. This is because the stakeholders have thorough backgrounds on the workings of the House of Assembly. They can even advise in terms of crafting. In terms of originating ideas that turn into bills, they will be invaluable because they understand the processes of lawmaking. The Assembly under my watch will be a bastion for legislative advancement and political development of the state. The Cross Riverians should not entertain any fear because we shall work for the overall interest of all citizens.
A few days away from the inauguration, the issue of zoning has once again cropped up with regard to where and who gets the Speakership slot. What is your take on that considering that you are also interested to lead the 10th Assembly?
Yes, there has been zoning since 1999, but what the state shares is governor, deputy governor and speaker among the three senatorial districts of the state. The state does not share federal constituencies. Federal constituency affairs are inherent in its internal zoning arrangements. For example, as we speak, Ikom has occupied the federal house position from 2015 to date. It was only natural that the position has to leave Ikom for Boki in 2023. Since 2015, Ikom State Constituency has had the deputy leadership positions with Boki having none. I was only nominated as a deputy leader because Fred Osim, the former leader did not defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC). If it was by zoning, why did Ikom take both positions then?
In 2019, I was supposed to be the Speaker, but the Governor asked me to leave it. I told them that deputy leader should go to Boki, so that Ikom can keep the Federal House position, but Ikom took both positions. Today, Ikom stakeholders are saying they don’t want to be empty. He, who goes to equity, must go with clean hands. That the Federal House has now moved to Boki by natural cause has nothing to do with the zoning arrangements of the state constituency.
Now, going by the zoning arrangement, the Speakership position was given to Ikom/Boki in the central district. If Abi, Yakurr, Obubra and Etung had anyone doing third term like me, who is the most ranking member, we would have contested the Speakership, that’s because they have ranking members. As it is now, only Abi has a ranking member; Yakurr, Obubra and Etung have none.
Secondly, in those positions, we have the Senate. As long as the Senate position is held by someone from the old Ikom, which has been so since 1999, the Speakership position, if zoned to the central, would be occupied by someone from the old Obubra. That is why Eteng Jonah, John Gaul Lebo, and Bassey Ewah were all Speakers. Now that the Senate seat has moved to old Obubra, the Speakership position also has to be moved to the old Ikom, comprising of Boki, Ikom and Etung. But let me make it categorically clear that the Speakership position is not just zoned to Ikom/Boki; it is zoned to the central district and it is purely a state, not a federal constituency affair.
To make it clearer, we have also had situations where some local government areas were populated by political office holders, perhaps not fault of theirs. For instance, in Bekwara, Kanu Agabi was a senator, and Dr. Mike Ogar (of blessed memory) was a Speaker of the House of Assembly. In Obanliku, Felix Ugbo was Secretary to the State Government, and Frank Adah was Speaker. There was also a time when the Governor, Minister and Vice Chancellor were all from Obudu. In Ogoja, Patrick Egbodor was a federal house member; and Gabe Eddy was speaker from same Ogoja. In Yala, John Odey was Minister, Rose Oko, federal house member, and Larry Odey, Speaker in one LGA. In Yakurr, Obeten Okorn was in the federal house, and Bassey Eko Ewah was Speaker. In Akamkpa, Ntufam John Achort Okon was state chairman of party, Daniel Asuquo was House of Representatives member and Itaya Nyong was Deputy Speaker.
In Odukpani, Ekpo Okon was state chairman of party, Efiok Cobham, deputy governor, Prince Bassey Otu, federal house member, and later Senator. In Akpabuyo, Donald Duke was governor, Dominic Aqua Edem deputy speaker. As I speak, in Calabar South, Gershom Bassey is a Senator, Essien Ayi federal house member, Joseph Bassey deputy speaker and Okon Ephraim chief whip. In 2015, Joseph Bassey and Okon Ephraim were already second term members of the House of Assembly. They were qualified for leadership positions. In 2019, during the two members’ third term, positions zoned to the entire southern district were deputy speaker and chief whip.
Then Biase had a second term member in Ogbor Ogbor. Mathew Olory and Charles Ekpe also second term members in Akamkpa. In Calabar Municipality, Efa Esua was second term, while late lady Elizabeth Ironbar was also a second timer from Akpabuyo. In Bakassi, Ekpo Ekpo Bassey was second term member. All these second term members could not get leadership positions in 2019, because Calabar South had two members doing third term. That was why they took both the deputy speaker and chief whip positions in same Calabar South. Both positions went to Calabar South because they were the most ranking members. As turbulent as the other members were, they all succumbed to the seniority equation and allowed the more ranking members take the two positions.
Today, the governor, southern senator and federal house member for Calabar Municipal/Odukpani are all from Odukpani. So, it is wrong for people to limit a state affair to local intelligence. A lot of things the present administration need to do would be by legislation. We need a robust and vibrant legislature to re-engineer most of the economic decisions he would be taking at the long run to put the state in the right course.
You have been in the legislature for about eight years, what are those remarkable achievements you have recorded so far that should make the state trust you with such a plum seat as the Speaker of the House?
If you go to the Clerk of the House of Assembly, my scorecard as a legislator is there for everyone to see. For records purposes, I did the Corona virus bill. It was a novelty. It was a product of my ingenuity. The Cross River State Public Complaint and Anti-corruption Bill, aimed at insulating the state’s finances from being taken by the Federal Government is also my brainchild. For instance, if a commissioner commits a financial crime, the state has the power to deal with such situations. Corruption and other crimes are not the exclusive rights of the federal government to handle alone.
There is also the Safety Commission bill, and the Corporate Social Responsibility bill. The Corporate Social Responsibility bill was done to determine and regulate what private companies in the state should do as their own quota to the development of the state. Companies’ memorandum of understanding with host communities ought to be followed up with a view to knowing what such a company is projecting as its community development project.
I also contributed heavily to the Health Insurance Bill, with Dr. Ekpo Ekpo as chairman. I nicknamed the bill Ayadecare, which drew the Governor’s interest to it. With the support of Dr. Ekpo Ekpo, I sponsored the primary health care agency into one roof. I did the amendment of the Tourism Bureau Bill. I can go on and on. I do landmark bills. Go to the Assembly, you will have a dossier of my contributions to legislation that have led to the development of the state.
There are fears that your independent-minded nature could cause a personality clash with the governor. Can you say something about that?
This is just giving a dog a bad name in order to hang it. So, an arm of government should not have a personality? When talking about who becomes the speaker, we should look at intelligence and capacity to do the job. I have the background, having worked with Liyel Imoke at a tender age of 24. I was very loyal and it was total, and because of that I was supported by the then governor to win election to the House of Assembly. I conducted myself well and I got the institutional support. I worked with former governor Ben Ayade. Yes, in the first six months, there was a bit of misunderstanding of government policies. That was the period people said we had issues. After that time, I did not have any other issue with him, and from then on I was loyal, earning his nod to continue even when he was exiting as governor.
I was running for the federal house, when the stakeholders of our party called me and said there would be a dearth of institutional memory in the Assembly because most ranking members were going to the national assembly. I was asked to return and preserve the institutional memory of the House. That was how I returned. So, as deputy leader of the House, if the speaker, the deputy speaker and the House leader of the house have all been promoted to the national assembly, then with my capacity, it is logical that I become speaker.
When Ayade moved to the APC, a lot of people didn’t follow him. But I did, because of how loyal I am. Are there not all the ingredients in me to show that I am a very loyal person? By the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, no speaker can be a governor. The speaker is the most endangered citizen in the state, because he is sandwiched between legislators and the governor. The speaker is faced with threats from both the governor and members of the House. Back to the issue, saying I am stubborn is merely giving a dog a bad name in order to hang it.
Every speaker of the House of Assembly, in the last 24 years, has been rewarded. Bassey Ewah, Frank Adah, moved to federal house and Larry Odey almost became governor. He was to run for Senate, but lost by what I call “internal process mechanism.” John Gaul Lebo was given a federal house ticket. He lost the election. Now Eteng Jonah Williams today is a senator. So, why would I want to have issues with the governor and jeopardize my promotion? It is just cheap blackmail because they have no capacity to withstand me. What has character got to do with capacity to do the job? I only contest ideas, which is the ideal thing to do. And as I said earlier, if I emerge as speaker, Cross Rivererians should expect a solution-providing House of Assembly.