Senate Leader, Cross River Governor Tussle Over State’s 2015 Guber Slot Senate Leader, Cross River Governor Tussle Over State’s 2015 Guber Slot
  From: Diana Okon-Effiong, Calabar The choice on who succeeds the Cross River State Governor, Senator Liyel Imoke in 2015 has pitched the governor... Senate Leader, Cross River Governor Tussle Over State’s 2015 Guber Slot

 

Gov. Imoke

Gov. Imoke

Ndoma Egba

Ndoma-Egba

From: Diana Okon-Effiong, Calabar

The choice on who succeeds the Cross River State Governor, Senator Liyel Imoke in 2015 has pitched the governor against the Senate leader, Sen. Victor Ndoma-Egba (SAN).

Already there are disagreements between the governor and his deputy, Efiok Cobham over the same issue.
The governor is reportedly not to be happy with his deputy for convening a meeting of stakeholders in the Southern Senatorial District and calling for the rotation of the governorship seat based on the old Calabar-Ogoja Accord.

Insiders told our correspondent that Gov. Imoke is also not happy with the Senate Leader who allegedly without his consent took the NNPC General Manager (Crude), Mr. Godwin Jedy-Agba, to the presidency and other places as the next governor of the state.

However,  the Senate Leader had severally denied such allegation insisting that the next governor of the state will be selected through a democratic process.

“And I believe that whatever position the governor takes at the end of the day would reflect the will of the generality of the members of the PDP, arrived at through a democratic process,” he said.

Already two factional groups in support of Imoke and Ndoma-Egba met in Ikom last Saturday and Sunday drumming support for their warring leaders.

The pro Imoke group met at the old Ikom Guest house at the instance of the Special Adviser to the Governor on Political Matters and resolved that, “the PDP family in Ikom remains strong, united and unshaken under the humane, imaginative and progressive Leadership of Senator Liyel Imoke”.

The meeting which was attended by mostly political appointees and elected officers from Ikom also resolved:  “it is the sole prerogative of our leader (Imoke) to direct us on the choice of his successor; and that until he does so we will wait and continue to wait patiently”.

The resolution captioned “October Declaration; A historic Declaration of the Ikom for Liyel Movement” was read by the member representing Ikom 1in the State House of Assembly, Mr. Simon Nkoro.

It stated: “Any son or daughter of Ikom who begins to parade a governorship candidate behind our leader is ungrateful and is doing so only for his own or her own selfish reasons and does not have the blessings of the people of Ikom”.

 

But another group,  “Ikom/Boki Political Forum”, clearly supporting  the Senate Leader also met in Ikom on October 27, 2013.

The group did not discuss the 2015 governorship election but encapsulated their wishes in acommunique signed by the former Special Adviser to the Governor on Security matters, Mr. Bassey Okim and three others from Ikom and Mr. Sammy Amkwor and three others from Boki.

They resolved to “thank the Central Senatorial District for giving Ikom/Boki federal constituency the senatorial seat which belongs to the entire central zone.

“We wish to state that our federal constituency wish to still retain the senatorial seat in our federal constituency.
“We resolved further that the seat of senator be retained in Ikom LGA for strategic reasons while the seat of the federal house be kept by Boki LGA in the 2015 general elections.

They commended Imoke for the various developmental projects in Ikom and pledged their loyalty to his leadership. They also condemned what they termed “the faction of the new PDP in our great party”.

“We re-affirm our support to the PDP leadership led by Alhaji Bamagar Tukur at the National and Ntufam John Okon at our State level”.

 

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