Political confusion is heightening in Cross River State following the latest pronouncement by the state chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ntufam John Okon, that the party will no longer adopt the principle of zoning in deciding candidates for political offices.
Okon announced over the weekend that the party will no longer keep to its earlier position of zoning political offices in the state.
This is however in contrast to the position of the leader of the party in the state, Governor Liyel Imoke, who is insisting that zoning remains the centrepiece of politics in the state and that it has been sanctioned by the national headquarters of the party.
Governor Imoke in the past few years has repeatedly insisted that his successor will, due to his belief in zoning, have to emerge from Cross River North which has not produced a governor since the current dispensation.
Hence most stakeholders in Cross River were astounded when the state PDP chairman announced before a crowd of supporters of Senator Prince Bassey Otu, the senator representing Cross River South Senatorial District that the party will no longer rely on zoning arrangement to produce candidates for elective offices.
Senator Otu had gone to the PDP secretariat in Calabar with his supporters to protest the state leadership of the party’s alleged zoning out of his senatorial seat from Odukpani LGA to Calabar South LGA in order to favour Chief Gershom Bassey.
Bassey is believed to be favoured to clinch the ticket of the party for the senatorial zone as compensation for not getting the governorship ticket as earlier arranged by PDP stakeholders including past governors in the state.
But Senator Otu has stuck to his position saying as of now there would be ‘no vacancy’ at the Cross River Southern Senatorial seat as he is still ready to go for another term.
“Anyone that thinks he can politically weed me out is joking until I am done in 2019. Therefore, for them to zone the seat out to another LGA to favour their friend is an odd political calculation,” he said.
The zoning arrangement by the party has also affected the well-known interest of the Senate Leader, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, to return to the Senate for the fourth time as the governor is said not to be keen on supporting his (Senate leader’s) return.
To knock the Senate leader who is believed to have fallen out of favour with Imoke out of contention, it is alleged the governor, who is thought to have nursed the idea to return to the Senate but backed out, is working to see that the senatorial seat leaves Ikom to another part of the district so that Ndoma-Egba will lose out.
Many say this is why Representative John Owan-Enoh, representing the Obubra/Etung federal constituency in the House of Representatives who is in the Reps for the third time is showing strong determination to contest the seat.
Owan-Enoh has argued that since the Senate leader has functioned in that capacity for three terms and since his own part of the senatorial district has not produced a senator are overriding reasons why Ndoma-Egba should rather give him support as he has also decided to encourage those angling to take his place in the House of Reps, having served three terms.
Many are asking if Okon was intimidated by the presence of Senator Otu and his army of supporters at the PDP state secretariat to make such statement or whether he made the statement to sympathise with Ndoma-Egba’s situation.
Okon who was formerly a clerk at the Cross River State House of Assembly until his retirement over two years ago, has been criticised over the manner he is handling the affairs of the party.
This came to the fore about five months ago when he dismissed the aspiration of former general manager of NNPC, Prince Godwin Jedy-Agba, to succeed Governor Imoke, insisting that the former was not a duly registered member of the party and that they will work to block him from actualising his ambition.
His position caused a lot of concern among party stakeholders as the PDP chairman received a lot of bashing and condemnation as a result of attempting to blacklist Jedy-Agba.
A forum of influential Efik power brokers, Greater Calabar Forum led by Chief John Henry Bassey, addressed and distanced themselves from the zoning arrangement, stressing that they will not accept another person outside Efik nation to emerge as governor since it is now their turn going by what is known as the Calabar-Ogoja Accord.
The forum which had political stalwarts like Dr Ambrose Akpanika, Chief Edwin Usang, Chief Nya Asuquo, Etubom Alex Edem, Chief Archibong Onon and others in attendance emphasised that: “Nobody has the right to determine where the governor should come from but the people. If Zoning must be then it should be total and across board. Proper zoning arrangement is that of Calabar-Ogoja Accord and not this recent senatorial arrangement which should not be binding. Donald Duke represented the Calabar region and Liyel Imoke is completing the Ogoja’s tenure. So the governorship position should not naturally return to the Calabar region.”
A political support group for a governorship aspirant from Cross River North, Mr Legor Idagbo, a former Commissioner for Works in the state, The Mainstream Group, as well as other key politicians from that axis of the state, have seriously frowned at the statement of the party chairman.
“We stand on the zoning arrangement which confers on us the right to produce the next governor and nobody can stop that,” Chief Andrew Oboche from Ogoja insisted.
To say that Ntufam Okon’s recent declaration on zoning arrangement favoured by the governor and other key stakeholders has not jostled the polity is an under-estimation.
Chief Press Secretary and media adviser to Governor Imoke, Mr Christian Ita, has stated that the PDP chairman must have meant something else which many, including reporters, grossly misunderstood.
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