Eyo Ekpo, governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, Cross River State, has nominated 35-year-old Wofai Ewa as his running mate for next year’s gubernatorial election.
In a release made available and signed Ekpo, the former Attorney-General of the state held that it is in practising what he preaches that he has made the decision, considering how women and youth are excluded from politics.
“I have decided to practice what I preach in the choice of my running mate. At all levels of our politics, our women and young people are systematically excluded. They are mobilisers, but are hardly ever given opportunities to lead unless they are related to certain party bigwigs or selected through shady primaries. Many of the others are condemned permanently to the realm of praise singers, bag carriers and online attack dogs, barking at anyone who will criticise their benefactor.”
“As a result of this desire for a fresh start, my choice of running mate is Wofai Okoi Ewa. If elected on this ticket, Wofai will be just 35 years old and one of the youngest deputy governors in Nigeria’s history, if not even the youngest. However, what he brings to the table is much more than his youth.” Ekpo said.
He continues: “Wofai is a most worthy son of the Yakurr nation. More importantly, he is a civil engineer and a certified project manager with over a decade’s experience across a number of countries and industries. In my administration, he will play a key role in ensuring that all public infrastructure projects – most of which will be PPPs – are designed cost-effectively, professionally supervised to high standards and executed with little or no cost/budget overruns. He will also play a leading role in conflict resolution efforts across the State – a noble endeavour in which he has been passionately interested long before now – and work to bring peace to our communities, especially those in the Central District where he hails from. He is an avid sportsman, being the Vice President of the Cross River State Taekwondo Association.”
Ekpo insisted that the announcement is “our small way of building on the progress made by the Not Too Young To Run movement, in making political office more accessible to young people. Nigerians aged 35 and under make up the majority of our population. Many of them are very accomplished and passionate, but they have no voice in governance, and no seat at the table of decision making. This needs to change and with your support it will surely change.”
This is our choice come 9th February