By Darlington UDOBONG
Ace architect and Governorship candidate of Young Democratic Party (YDP), Architect Ezekiel Nya-Etok, has called on the people of the state to look beyond the issue of equity and justice in their choice of a Governor in 2019.
Nya-Etok, who is also the Principal Partner of Novone Consult Limited and Director General of Nigeria First Project, made this known in Uyo on Friday during a parley with newsmen, saying “the people of the state should rather be interested in the game plan and ideology of their preferred person for the 2019 governorship, not zoning.”
“The question we should ask those seeking to be Governor of Akwa Ibom State should be: why do you want to be Governor, not where do you come from? What are you bringing to the table? What is your game plan? What is your ideology? It should not be about justice or equity. It should be about making the poor relevant. Akwa Ibom can afford to double the salaries of every junior civil servant and substantially increase those of the senior civil servants. Akwa Ibom can afford to make sure that, as a policy, every retired senior civil servant owns a house. To be Governor is not my first interest but to see the system changed is my primary interest. 2019 can never be what is going on now,” he said.
He charged candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Udom Emmanuel, and that of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Mr. Nsima Ekere, to be people-oriented and be concerned with the security and welfare of the people.
The YDP Governorship candidate for Akwa Ibom State said Nigeria, and perhaps Akwa Ibom, needed someone that would change the wrong order of governance that has impoverished the nation for years.
“I have devoted 30 years of my entire life to social housing, which is housing for no income earners, low income earners and lower-medium income earners. Today, I’m moving from social housing to social governance. I want to put in place a government that will benefit the poor,” he maintained.
He condemned the concept of running Governor’s Lodges in Abuja and Lagos, saying the concept should rather be Governor’s home in the 31 Local Government Areas of the state where governance will be closer to the people.
The YDP Governorship candidate added by saying, “It is possible to have free medical service for everybody. It is possible to have a state where there is no minimum wage but living wage. It is possible to have a functional educational system. We can make private schools unattractive by bringing back public schools and making them work. I want to make education my centre piece.”
