He is unsparing in his scrutiny of Cross River State –a state he claimed to have left in splendour and with potentials to grow in leaps and bounds. Debonair yet animated, he also talks ruefully about his relationship with his successor, ex-Governor Liyel Imoke. What used to be a solid friendship, his words reveal has become a fiendish struggle over power and relevance. In this interview with Adedayo Adejobi former Governor Donald Duke speaks about how his state has lost its lustre owing to what he described as the mismanagement of Imoke. He also speaks on how the Peoples Democratic Party chieftains created a platform for the failure of President Goodluck Jonathan and the party in the March 28 and April 11 polls. Duke, who recently visited President Muhammadu Buhari, did not fail to talk about his relationship with the new President, saying that he hasn’t defected to the All Progressives Congress

At the early stages of the primaries you were at a reception rally organised for Mr. Jedy Agba  are you back in politics?
I never left. There was just nothing to politick about.

You created some excitement with reference to two monkeys, please expantiate.
Oh well, it was the slogan of the Imoke campaign, low in my estimation though –’monkey work, monkey chop’. In other words, the benefits for supporting the campaign will accrue to only those that aided the campaign. Quite a low and parochial slogan, I’d say. My contention is, eight years after, there are only two noticeable beneficiaries. One with sole electrification and water projects throughout the state, the other with all civil work projects in the state. My point being opportunities are deprived many others in a state that is largely a government dependent economy. That is not right.

Governor Imoke was reported to have sworn that Mr. Jedy Agba will never succeed him. Was this a point of contention between you two?
I am not aware that Governor Imoke swore to anything. There are newspaper reports that allude to him saying he’s not aware of his successor but aware of those who won’t succeed him. If true, it’s an arrogant statement. What I do know is that the Peoples Democratic Party state chairman, at whose behest I don’t know, said to me that Mr. Agba is not a member of the party. And when Mr. Agba proved to the contrary, he said he was not a member of the state PDP family, in other words not within the party inner circle. To which I said hogwash! He is constitutionally eligible to vote and be voted for. The same party later proceeded to suspend him. How do you suspend someone who is not in your fold? Fortunately, the National Working Committee threw that out. The party then proceeded to screen aspirants as to their preparedness to aspire to the office of governor. Of course Mr. Agba was not considered for screening. I thought the party was arrogating too much power to itself contrary to Mr. Agba’s fundamental rights, the PDP and the Nigerian constitution. Mr. Agba and any other should once constitutionally eligible, have their date with the electorate. Indeed, all the excitement over Mr. Agba made him an issue. The man has all his life been a civil servant and was stepping into the political arena for the very first time. I think his aspiration was exaggerated.

Was there a deal between the President and existing governors allowing them choose their successors?
Well, we have seen the result of such deals. Seriously, I doubt it. But with these guys, you never know.

The three musketeers –Duke, Imoke and Bassey, is there a discord?
No. Our common bond is the upliftment of Cross River State. In that quest, we are brothers. But, that brotherhood does not preclude us from speaking our truths and distinguishing between right and wrong.

Imoke has repeatedly stated that he installed you as the Governor of Cross River State during your tenure. What’s your take?
Liyel! Liyel! Left to Liyel he’s the reason we have a Cross River State in existence today. I’ve heard that too. You’d think I was in my bed twiddling my feet and he came summoning me to be governor of the state. I think it’s an insult to all those who worked assiduously hard to make that election happen. Granted, we all worked very hard at it; Liyel, Gersh, myself and several others. If anything, I was the guinea pig in that experiment. It’s unfair for one (individual) to take credit for the efforts of many, and had we failed, would he have taken responsibility? We won with the narrowest of margins, 52/48. We had a one-seat majority in the assembly. We indeed had an opposition speaker. Four years later under my governorship, we had an absolute majority; will he take credit for that too? This nonsense of carrying the PDP flag to the state is just that –nonsense! How come in all of Nigeria, it’s only in Cross River State that the flag bearer celebrates himself as someone who was awarded the party in trust? Arrant nonsense! We should not make lies an instrument of statecraft.
I, on the other hand, can justifiably state unequivocally and without regret that I was responsible for him being appointed a Special Adviser and later a Minister, at great expense and goodwill. And were it not for those appointments and the largesse he exploited thereof, where would he be today? What he did with those opportunities posterity shall judge. You know we really should all shut up and rather go on our knees thanking God for His Grace, rather than postulate on who did what and got what. It’s all so childish.

In the past eight years, he  has pointed to the debt burden inherited from your administration as a major hindrance to his ability to perform?
That is a puerile argument on many fronts. Firstly, when you seek office, you ought to know the state of affairs and not make excuses for your perceived inability to perform.  Besides, whatever debt left behind was project-related and repayable. And remember, his first fiscal act in governance was increasing salaries and remuneration of civil servants and increasing the number of political appointees in government. That is illogical and not in consonance with an administration laden with debt.

In your opinion, has he done well in office?
Who am I to judge? I have often described him as the most opportune politician of our generation. Nigeria’s youngest senator to date held sway over the power sector for eight years, now governor of a state. How he has utilised these opportunities perhaps posterity will judge. For me, I think the question will be asked, eight years in charge of the power sector and $16 billion after and eight years in charge of Cross River, has the power sector improved and has Cross River state moved up the rung of the ladder? Is his a case of serial success or administration of serial failure? The jury is out on both counts.

Is it true you were against power shift to northern Cross River?
No. After all, Jedy Agba is from the north. I’m however against power shift to inability. North or South, what is paramount is ability.

It is reported that the state government recently warned civil servants about aligning with you. How do you react to that?
This is neither about me nor Liyel. I am the past, he is the outgoing present. We are talking about the future. What we do today will determine that future. Regarding civil servants, we paid salaries promptly on the 25th of every month, does he? I needn’t say more.

Two elders from your state, Ugba Murphy and Etubom Nya Asuquo  accused you of high-handedness in your time.
I won’t dignify drunken minions with a response.

There is the question of a N40 billion bond and the state’s reserve fund?
There is nothing wrong with the state obtaining a bond to fund its activity regardless of time. It is for the institutions underwriting the bond to determine its auspiciousness. Regarding the reserve fund, we set up the fund to encourage frugality and savings. Hitherto, we were literarily living hand to mouth. The Federal Government and a number of states have since set up similar instruments using the Cross River template. Cross River state has had its funds wiped out. Cross River State was a pacesetter in many areas: tourism, sanitation, innovation, security, etc.

It’s not noted as such these days. What in your opinion happened? 
(It is the) failure of continuity. (It is) the quest to be different for the sake of it, rather than building and improving upon (what’s already on the ground). So they neglected institutions such as the Obudu Cattle Ranch which was the most developed resort in West Africa. We had scheduled flights to the ranch –indeed, the only state with internal flights. The Imoke government purchased an aircraft, yet stopped flights to the ranch, for what I may ask? They literally shut the gates on Tinapa, when we had Wal-Mart and Triple 5, owners of Mall of the Americas highly interested in coming in. They jettisoned the security template which was a pilot scheme for the entire country. They threw away the sanitation blueprint for reasons I cannot fathom and so on. Then, they embarked on a plethora of projects ranging from Formula 1 to Energy City to Summit Hill Golf Course Estate. In a city that can hardly support one golf course they introduced a second; a huge conference facility when we have two such facilities in existence at Tinapa and the Cultural Centre. The government’s attempt to host the World Mountain Race and National Sports Festival, were incomplete or scuttled. They are the reason there has not been a National Sports Festival since the Lagos run. Shutting the gates of Tinapa and Obudu Cattle Ranch for any reason is, to state it bluntly, an act of innate wickedness.

The First Lady of Cross River State, Mrs. Obioma Imoke was recently in the news for child trafficking on several media including a BBC documentary.
I don’t comment on spouses. You know what happened to the PDP? (It is) impunity born out of arrogance. The classic example is where five governors threatened to leave the party and the refrain from party leaders was, ‘Let them go’ or ‘Good riddance to bad rubbish.’ The party leadership was only concerned about the President (Goodluck Jonathan) obtaining a re-nomination –for them that’s all that mattered. The governors in question were the ones perceived likely to contest the president’s re-nomination. Well, they won the battle and lost the war. Then, there is the question of Boko Haram, Chibok girls, very glaring ethnic bias and corruption without even the pretence of trying to stem it. During the campaigns insulting the opponent was the name of the game. Casting aspersions and denigrating the North by persons close to the president was very damaging. Indeed unwittingly, ethnicity was introduced into the campaigns. Even in the president’s home base of the South-South and South-East, issues were not canvassed; it was all based on primordial sentiments. There was nothing to enthuse the people. I recall an empty stadium during the president’s campaign in Calabar. All these resulted in very low turnout on election day.  It was a classic text of how not to conduct an election. It’s a very sad epitaph for a party built with high hopes and great dreams, destroyed by those who contributed little or nothing to its existence.

Would you ascribe part of the blame to President Olusegun Obasanjo?
His letters and books say it all.

You were reportedly harassed at the inauguration of a children’s hospital in Calabar.
Well, weird things happen under the guise of politics. During my first term in office, my wife in collaboration with Nigerian doctors in the US Diaspora requested to convert a disused political party office in Calabar for a women and children charity hospital. Neither she nor I are doctors. These doctors frequently carry out medical missions to Nigeria and were looking for a base. We excitedly offered on lease this disused political party office –which was an eyesore and there are several dotted across the country –as a maternal and paediatric centre. The groundbreaking ceremony was performed by Mrs. Stella Obasanjo (now late). As with charities, it takes a while to bring to fruition and this happened after I left office. We invited the donors, the public, Governors Imoke and Akpabio for the opening. Indeed Governor Imoke was supposed to cut the tape.
On the day of commissioning, we got a court order to stop the ceremony; a team of about 100 policemen led by an assistant commissioner of police were drafted to enforce the order at the governor’s directives. The governor, of course, did not attend and asked his counterpart from Akwa Ibom not to. The police were very civil; they allowed the ceremony to go ahead although abridged. The facility was shut down despite there being patients on admission. There were a set of triplets born premature in incubation, women recently delivered, some through caesarean (section) and a few medical emergencies all that meant nothing to my friend. Why? Beats me hollow. I guess show of strength and authority. You know how dogs pee by tree stumps to mark territory; I guess Liyel was doing same, reminding me he’s now the new kid on the block. You know some people need office and authority to be somebody.

What is the way forward for the Peoples Democratic Party?
The Peoples Democratic Party will have to re-strategise on how to position itself. It’s particularly damaged in the North. For the first time in a long time the North has achieved monolithic hegemony thanks to the antics of the party. The party has to woo back the folks there. It has to reassure Nigerians that it has heard their grievances and learnt from her mistakes. It will take some doing but it’s important for the sustenance of democracy. The current blame game going on in the party does not help though.

Boko Haram has really embarrassed Nigeria, where did it all go wrong?
It is an embarrassment to this nation and indeed the African continent that such a ragtag band of miscreants could hold the country to ransom. We tolerated miscreants from the Niger-Delta and even elevated some of them to the highest heights of prominence, dining and wining with criminals and anarchists in the name of political expediency. But going forward, we should find the reasons for their existence and curb it at its root; it’s usually born of social and economic dislocation. This pacifist approach of rehabilitation and settlement will never work. We all need to be rehabilitated at least mentally, so it won’t suffice to appease trouble-makers and murderers. It will only encourage another batch of hoodlums.

What is your take on corruption that has become so prevalent in the country?
This is our national scourge. It has become so acculturised in our national DNA that it’s no longer seen as unusual. It’s the norm. You are solicited everywhere. The recent Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation saga of money missing is indicative of the problem. Rather than address it, we attacked and insulted the whistle-blower; same attitude with the subsidy scam. Subsidy went from N250b to N3 trillion in one year, yet no one has been held accountable. Pension funds are looted, the perpetuators are known and not a finger lifted. The whole issue of corruption has to be addressed by the governing class not just politicians, but perhaps, the country’s legal framework and particularly the judiciary. That is where the solution lies. A weak judicial system as we have today breeds corruption and encourages impunity.

You caused quite a stir during the PDP presidential rally in Calabar. What was that all about?
My understanding of a rally is the contender seeks support of the people and in return promises to address their concerns. It’s a trade-off: vote for me and I shall do this.  At that rally all I heard was the refrain ‘Carry go.’ Indeed, the governor stated that the President did not need to campaign in Cross River State, he should, as he said, ‘carry go.’ This is a state lumbering under debt, three months in salary areas and a string of uncompleted projects. Up to that morning, for the five years President Jonathan had been in office, he had not visited the state to commission a single project. I thought the governor was being uncharitable to the president, the state and indeed himself. There could be no better place to extract a commitment from the president to address the three most teething issues confronting the state, namely: the loss of oil wells and attendant revenues derivable therefrom and the state of federal infrastructure, particularly roads. Uyo is ordinarily a forty-five minute drive from Calabar, but due to the state of the roads it takes upwards of three hours on a good day. Ogoja is four hours but can take upwards of nine hours from Calabar. Today, most people travel through Enugu to Ogoja. It’s ridiculous. I was not supposed to speak and was explicitly directed not to be recognised. That was fine with me, however, out of the blues the (then) National Chairman (Adamu Muazu) called me up to accompany him to the podium and then asked me to say a word. I thought it was the most opportune time to inform the president of these issues. I thought I did the governor a favour, but you know sycophants and mischief-makers immediately went to town saying it was a ploy to embarrass the President and undermine the governor. And to what avail may I ask?   

You were recently reported to have visited the President-elect. Are you defecting?
I was only following the example of President Jonathan by congratulating the victor. On a serious note, I have known General (Muhammadu) Buhari since my NEIC days and we have remained cordial. I think it was in order to congratulate and wish him well. You see the success of our leadership, regardless of the political divide is our collective success.

What in your opinion should be the priority of the new administration?
Firstly, securing and ensuring the territorial integrity of the nation. Secondly, resolving our financial quagmire and then addressing our physical and social infrastructure: education, skills (acquisition), healthcare, electricity, roads, rail, commuting and communication deficit, in that order.
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/president-buhari-is-my-friend-but-i-have-not-joined-apc/211254/

Waiting for comments

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Waoh!!! Such an eye opener..Thank you God for pulling down the monster called PDP.

Donald Duke is one of the few finest/biggest assert remaining in PDP...he speaks very well,if only PDP can shun corruption and impunity duke could have been given the job of ffk...he speaks without insulting anyone directly unlike ffk,pdp would have let that ffk remain in apc and rot there...Duke we need you for minister of tourism,buhari should consider him please

Am always fulfilled reading any article or interview that involves Donald Duke, this guy is an embodiment of intelligence, Buhari need this guy, this was the best governor of the 1999 - 2007 set

The Don has spoken