Duke, however, said he was hopeful that the PDP governorship candidate, Senator Sandy Onor, has what it takes to restore the lost glory of Cross River State.
By Jeffrey Agbo
Ex-governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke, on Saturday said the next governor of the state would face an uphill task to reinvent governance in the state, noting that he feels sorry for such person.
Duke spoke at the inauguration of the 1,080-member campaign council of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Calabar.
The former governor, who is saddled with the task of leading the campaign council, noted that the essence of good governance had been lost in the state in the last eight years.
According to him, “I never bargained to be governor of the state, but was driven by passion and commitment to positively change the fortune of the state, when I eventually became one.”
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He said that where he and his team envisioned the state to be at this time was not where it was.
“I am worried about development in the state, a whole generation had been lost.
“We know where the state ought to be by now. The plan was that we would have been governing the state without relying on federal allocation by now. The plans were all laid out.
“Whole paradise had been lost. This is certainly not the best of time to govern Cross River State,” he said.
Duke, however, said he was hopeful that the PDP governorship candidate, Senator Sandy Onor, has what it takes to restore the lost glory of Cross River State.
He stressed that Onor’s past experiences in government had adequately prepared him for the uphill task of reinventing the state.
“As a former Local Government Chairman, Vice Chairman and at a time Chairman of the Association of Local Government Chairmen of Nigeria (ALGON), in addition to being a former Commissioner for environment and Agriculture and now a Senator, Sandy has what it takes to right the wrongs.
“I am glad that it is Sandy that will bring back the state that we have lost. I can stake for him because I know who he is,” he stated.
In his remarks, Onor said that the state had lost direction, as everything about the state had been abused and debased.