C’River guber 2023: Central, Northern leaders explain decision to back APC candidate

From Aniekan Aniekan, Calabar

Leaders and stakeholders in the central and northern part of Cross River State have explained their decision to back the gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC)  in the state, Senator Bassey Otu.

The leaders who made their positions known in a communiqué issued  after separate meetings said power should be rotated between the three senatorial districts of the  state for the sake of equity and fairness.

In Yala, the northern leaders reaffirmed their earlier agreement as contained in what they referred to as Calabar/Ogoja accord of 1980.

“The office of the Governor of Cross River State shall rotate sequentially between the three constituent senatorial districts of the South, Central, and North for equity, brotherliness, justice, and accommodation,” they pledged.

The northern leaders further agreed that after the turn of the incumbent Gov Ben Ayade who hails from the north and is soon completing the circle, “it is only fair, just, and equitable that the office of governor should return to the South in the 2023 general elections, and continue to move sequentially thereafter.”

Signatories to the declaration include   Bassey Eyo Ndem, Ntufam John Achort Okon, Amb. Nya Asuquo and others for the southern zone, as well as Ntufam Fidelis Ugbo, High Chief Higgins Peters, Elder P. J. Ekunke, Hon. Signor Omang Idiege and others for the northern zone.

Similarly in another stakeholders meeting in Ikom, the central zone, the leaders agreed with the submission of the northern leaders, saying the rotation decision of the governorship seat has helped in cutting off acrimony and bad blood often associated with such struggle.

Ex- Senate Leader, Senator Victor Ndoma Egba, who spoke on behalf of the Central district  said “it is not the turn of the central or the Ejagham ethnic group to produce a governor as some people are propagating. 

“We have never played ethnic politics in Cross River, we rotate governorship position on the basis of senatorial districts and not on ethnic line.

“We have decided to support and elect Senator Bassey Otu from the Southern Senatorial district since it is the turn of the zone to produce a governor. Other political parties whose candidates are not from the south are on their own.

“A greater percentage of us seated here are of the Ejagham stock but what we are saying is that anyone from the central using Ejagham sentiment to campaign has made a mistake because we have never met to take such ethnic-related decision. It is the turn of the south.

“The rotational policy which our fathers introduced, has stabilised the polity,  brought us peace, unity and development. We will stick to it.”

 Bassey Ndem, a former commissioner for lands in the state and member of the Etubom’s Council in Calabar led other leaders from the South to the stakeholders meeting.

He maintained that power rotation in the state “began in the south with Mr Donald Duke, shifted to the centre with Senator Liyel Imoke and now it is in the north with Gov Ben Ayade. Fairness and accommodation demand that it begins again from the south.

“We are here to solicit your support for our son, Senator Bassey Edet Otu, who is in the race under the APC platform. 

“We will also support you after our turn. We believe that it is not right for anyone to truncate this lofty arrangement”, he said.