I’LL DO BETTER IN SENATE — REP ENOH

Member
House
of
Representatives,
Rep
John
Owan
Enoh is
the
chairman
of
House
committee
on
Appropriation.
He currently represents the Obubra/Etung Federal
Constituency. He wants to unseat the Senate leader,
Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, who currently
represents Cross River Central Senatorial District.
He spoke with our correspondent on an array of
burning issues. Excerpts:
Many believe you intend to move from the House of
Representatives to the Senate. Can you confirm
that?

Actually, before I came here, I had a meeting in my
house and the main reason for that meeting was to
take a date for my formal declaration for the
Senate. That date has been taken so there won’t be
any better confirmation than to say, yes, I am going
to formally declare for the Senate very soon.
It is said that Speaker Waziri Tambuwal wants to
run for president. What is your reaction to that?
The Speaker and I went to the House of
Representatives in 2003. Yes, he is my friend. Yes I
have heard the things that you have heard and as a
friend, I have always advised him to stay in the
PDP. I am in the PDP and he is in the PDP so we
are to stay in the PDP. A lot of times, he is a
proponent of ‘all politics is local’ but as a party
man, I have advised and I continue to advise him to
stay in the PDP.
We hear you are running for the Senate because
your own Obubra people want to run for the House
of Representatives in 2015.
When I declared to run for a third term for the
House of Representatives, I did that in Obubra and
my statement then was that it was the last time I
was going to run for the seat and I am on record.
And today you have about 18 people running for that
seat. That is what it should be. Since 1999, we have
not had anybody from Obubra (one of the LGAs in
Cross River Senatorial District) go to the Senate. As
I told them I was not going to run again for the
House of Representatives it opened the floodgates
of people to indicate their interest.
Why Senate?
I could do better in the Senate. Yes, I could do
better in the Senate. I started my politics in 1999
when I represented my local government area state
constituency in the State House of Assembly. After
four years, I went further to the House of
Representatives. It is possible that if I didn’t go to
the House of Representatives, whatever potentials
that I am said to have made now would not have
been seen –that is possible. And by the way of logic
of representation, looking at the Central Senatorial
District we have three federal constituencies and
my federal constituency is the only constituency
that has not gone to the Senate. Abi/Yakurr has had
its turn when the present governor was in the
Senate. Boki/Ikom is doing its fourth term now.
Senator Mathew Mbu went to Senate in 1999 to
2003. Senator Ndoma Egba is doing his third term
so that federal constituency has had its fourth term.
The only federal constituency that has not had the
opportunity to go to the Senate is mine- Obubra/
Etung Federal Constituency. So as I go the Senate,
I also open the space for Obubra people to go to  the
House of Representatives. I think having the
opportunity of being in the Senate will provide an
excellent opportunity to serve the people of the
Central Senatorial District. I have been involved in
politics and I find a yawning gap in the leadership of
the central and I think that fires me to go to the
Senate.