₦airaland Forum

I recently read that Eta Mbora is aggressively pushing for the NDC ticket in the Calabar Municipal/Odukpani Federal Constituency, and it immediately raised a massive red flag. For those of us who live here, watch the politics of our state, and desperately want real progress, this development forces a cold, uncomfortable reality check. Politics is entirely about momentum.

If you aren't moving forward, you are moving backward—and right now, our people are fiercely impatient for change.

Handing our flag to a recycled politician isn't just a strategic blind spot; it is a declaration that we have run out of fresh ideas. If the NDC wants to win tomorrow’s battles, we cannot rely on yesterday’s defeated generals. We cannot afford to turn our party ticket into a political safety net.

If we look past the noise and the optics, the hard facts show exactly why having the likes of Eta Mbora leading the ticket is a liability the NDC simply cannot afford.

1. The Electorate Has Already Delivered a Clear Verdict
We don’t need to guess how voters feel about him; they told us plainly in 2023. Standing as an incumbent with all the advantages of power, he was soundly defeated, crashing into a distant third place. Rewarding a candidate whom the public actively rejected just a few years ago is a massive gamble that flies in the face of public opinion.

If the general electorate wouldn't buy what he was selling then, why do we think they will buy it now?

2. A Marriage of Convenience, Not Conviction
Let’s be honest about his sudden arrival in the NDC. This wasn’t a sudden ideological alignment; it was a tactical retreat from the internal collapse of his former political home, the PDP. The NDC ticket should belong to the loyal hands who stayed behind to build, fund, and defend this party through its darkest days, not someone treating our platform as a temporary storm shelter.

3. Twenty-Three Years in the System is More Than Enough
His political timeline stretches all the way back to the State Assembly in 2003, moving through local council leadership, and culminating in eight years in the House of Representatives. He has spent over two decades in the corridors of power. If twenty-three years wasn't enough time for him to transform this constituency, another four years won't magically do the trick.

4. The "Old Guard" Brand is Toxic to Modern Voters
The average voter today is exhausted by career politicians who view public office as a lifelong game of musical chairs. People are desperately seeking dynamic, innovative leadership. In this climate, fielding a face from the early 2000s instantly alienates the youth and independent blocks—the very swing voters the NDC absolutely needs to capture the seat.

5. A Stagnant and Forgettable Legislative Record
Eight years in Abuja should leave a legacy you can see and touch—landmark infrastructure, robust human capital development, and systemic empowerment. Instead, his tenure left the grassroots feeling deeply disconnected, defined by underwhelming, uncompleted constituency projects that did little to move the needle for our people.

6. Rusted Grassroots Machinery
The political engine that once kept him afloat has eroded. The energy is gone. His ability to genuinely mobilize the base has shrunk to a fraction of what it used to be, meaning he no longer possesses the structural muscle or the organic goodwill required to win a grueling, multi-party general election.

7. Loyalty That Shifts with the Wind
In sustainable politics, loyalty is everything. If a politician can abandon the political family that sustained him for decades the moment things get difficult, there is absolutely zero guarantee he won’t abandon our platform tomorrow—much like the current incumbent did—if a better offer comes along or the political winds shift again.

8. Importing Yesterday’s Factional Drama
He doesn’t travel alone; he brings the baggage, old grudges, and factional friction of his former political life straight into our camp. Right now, the NDC needs absolute internal cohesion to win. The last thing we need is to import external feuds and old camp rivalries into our family structure.

9. A Deep Generational Disconnect
The challenges facing Calabar Municipal/Odukpani today are modern and complex. We are talking about digital economy integration, innovative trade frameworks, youth unemployment, and contemporary governance. His political style belongs to a completely different era and is fundamentally unequipped to handle modern economic realities.

10. A Career Rescue Mission is Not a Vision
We all know this bid is entirely about a personal political comeback. It’s about personal survival, not a transformative agenda for the constituency. The people of Calabar and Odukpani deserve a representative whose primary focus is the collective future of the constituency, not the resuscitation of a fading personal career.

The choice before the NDC is clear and simple. We can choose energy over exhaustion. We can choose a fresh, bold vision over a recycled past. If we want to win, we must move forward.

Affiong Oyo-Ita writes from Calabar.

PeterObi2041:
I recently read that Eta Mbora is aggressively pushing for the NDC ticket in the Calabar Municipal/Odukpani Federal Constituency, and it immediately raised a massive red flag. For those of us who live here, watch the politics of our state, and desperately want real progress, this development forces a cold, uncomfortable reality check. Politics is entirely about momentum.

If you aren't moving forward, you are moving backward—and right now, our people are fiercely impatient for change.

Handing our flag to a recycled politician isn't just a strategic blind spot; it is a declaration that we have run out of fresh ideas. If the NDC wants to win tomorrow’s battles, we cannot rely on yesterday’s defeated generals. We cannot afford to turn our party ticket into a political safety net.

If we look past the noise and the optics, the hard facts show exactly why having the likes of Eta Mbora leading the ticket is a liability the NDC simply cannot afford.

1. The Electorate Has Already Delivered a Clear Verdict
We don’t need to guess how voters feel about him; they told us plainly in 2023. Standing as an incumbent with all the advantages of power, he was soundly defeated, crashing into a distant third place. Rewarding a candidate whom the public actively rejected just a few years ago is a massive gamble that flies in the face of public opinion.

If the general electorate wouldn't buy what he was selling then, why do we think they will buy it now?

2. A Marriage of Convenience, Not Conviction
Let’s be honest about his sudden arrival in the NDC. This wasn’t a sudden ideological alignment; it was a tactical retreat from the internal collapse of his former political home, the PDP. The NDC ticket should belong to the loyal hands who stayed behind to build, fund, and defend this party through its darkest days, not someone treating our platform as a temporary storm shelter.

3. Twenty-Three Years in the System is More Than Enough
His political timeline stretches all the way back to the State Assembly in 2003, moving through local council leadership, and culminating in eight years in the House of Representatives. He has spent over two decades in the corridors of power. If twenty-three years wasn't enough time for him to transform this constituency, another four years won't magically do the trick.

4. The "Old Guard" Brand is Toxic to Modern Voters
The average voter today is exhausted by career politicians who view public office as a lifelong game of musical chairs. People are desperately seeking dynamic, innovative leadership. In this climate, fielding a face from the early 2000s instantly alienates the youth and independent blocks—the very swing voters the NDC absolutely needs to capture the seat.

5. A Stagnant and Forgettable Legislative Record
Eight years in Abuja should leave a legacy you can see and touch—landmark infrastructure, robust human capital development, and systemic empowerment. Instead, his tenure left the grassroots feeling deeply disconnected, defined by underwhelming, uncompleted constituency projects that did little to move the needle for our people.

6. Rusted Grassroots Machinery
The political engine that once kept him afloat has eroded. The energy is gone. His ability to genuinely mobilize the base has shrunk to a fraction of what it used to be, meaning he no longer possesses the structural muscle or the organic goodwill required to win a grueling, multi-party general election.

7. Loyalty That Shifts with the Wind
In sustainable politics, loyalty is everything. If a politician can abandon the political family that sustained him for decades the moment things get difficult, there is absolutely zero guarantee he won’t abandon our platform tomorrow—much like the current incumbent did—if a better offer comes along or the political winds shift again.

8. Importing Yesterday’s Factional Drama
He doesn’t travel alone; he brings the baggage, old grudges, and factional friction of his former political life straight into our camp. Right now, the NDC needs absolute internal cohesion to win. The last thing we need is to import external feuds and old camp rivalries into our family structure.

9. A Deep Generational Disconnect
The challenges facing Calabar Municipal/Odukpani today are modern and complex. We are talking about digital economy integration, innovative trade frameworks, youth unemployment, and contemporary governance. His political style belongs to a completely different era and is fundamentally unequipped to handle modern economic realities.

10. A Career Rescue Mission is Not a Vision
We all know this bid is entirely about a personal political comeback. It’s about personal survival, not a transformative agenda for the constituency. The people of Calabar and Odukpani deserve a representative whose primary focus is the collective future of the constituency, not the resuscitation of a fading personal career.

The choice before the NDC is clear and simple. We can choose energy over exhaustion. We can choose a fresh, bold vision over a recycled past. If we want to win, we must move forward.

Affiong Oyo-Ita writes from Calabar.
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/17ne7oRDMe/

Chucks13:
Imagine shameless NDC still talking?

Chucks13:
Imagine shameless NDC still talking?

Nwaikpe:
Peter Obi is the backbone of national politics.
If you like, develop High-BP

maestroferddi:
I can relate with your views and concerns but having lived in Calabar for years and being conversant with the politics therein, the question is: who are the alternatives?

Cross River is there to be taken but we don't know what the leadership of NDC/Obedients are doing?

There is little visibility and it is very unfortunate because you guys worked wonders in 2023 to deliver the state and I do think that if there is state where Peter Obi and NDC need to really support, that state is Cross River.

Maybe the rationale for considering the candidate you are talking about is because of his past experience.

No kidding oneself, I know that Odukpani/Calabar Municipal is a very complex and traditional constituency in CRS, being the epicenter of the Efik nation so giving the ticket to a neophyte will spell humiliation because of the calibre of opponents who will be in the fray.

But then, if the right homework is done, the contest is highly winnable considering the fact that APC have nothing tangible to show for both at the state and federal levels.

kedeojo:
Which dirty past experience. do you pretend not to read that he has spent 23yrs in various positions and failed to deliver dividend of democracy. just because you support NDC, so everyone on the ticket should be voted for. same foolishness most of you made in 2023 and resulted in voting for candidates who turnout to be worser than APC and PDP. over 90% percent of elected labour party candidates were pure failures. you can do that in your region but can't work in south south again. in Benin city, the obidients are now singing new song of not voting blindly again. in abia two house of rep members shared cassava stem and bucket respectively with fanfare to thier constituent. NDC will fail woefully in 2027. your just an hypocrite like others.

Basic123:
That is what peter OBI is destined to be.

Being president is not part of the destiny!

Basic123:
That is what peter OBI is destined to be.

Being president is not part of the destiny!

Tareq1105:
Obi NDC is destined to be our social media liars president.

NDC said it had registered 44 millions members. They said the registration exercise crashed NDC site. only to discovered later that it only registered 700,000 members.

All na noise making and lies.