Donald Duke campaigns for PDP's guber candidate Onor, dubs C’River as lost paradise

A former governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke, said on Saturday that the next governor of the State will face an uphill task to reinvent governance.

Duke stated this during the inauguration of the 1,080-member campaign council of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the State.

Duke, saddled with the task of leading the campaign council, said the essence of good governance has been lost in the State since the last eight years.

He said: “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.

“However, I am worried about the recent development in the State, where a whole generation had been lost. I feel sorry for the next governor of the State.

“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 has been lost. This is certainly not the best of time to govern Cross River State.”

Duke, however, said the PDP governorship candidate, Senator Sandy Onor, has the capacity to restore the lost glory of the State.

He stressed that Onor’s past experiences in government adequately prepares him for the 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,” the ex-governor added.

In his remarks, Onor said the State has lost direction as everything about it has been abused and debased.