The claim in an on-line publication reference: weetalknaija.com.ng/news of October, 9, 2021 by one Jake Clifford alleged a purported crack in the Cross River State APC and went ahead to publish the names of Senators Victor Ndoma-Egba SAN, Owan Enoh, Dr Usani Usani as giving an ultimatum to governor Ben Ayade requesting him to reverse the consensus zoning of the APC chairmanship slot to Yala Local Government Area instead of Ogoja Local Government, is outright mischief and a figment of the imagination of the authors and their co-sponsors.
The claim in the publication of the threat that, these APC big wigs would return to the PDP if the same is not reversed so as to give opportunity to Dr Peter Ojie to become the APC state chairman as against Barr Alphonsus Eba of Yala Local Government Area is not only laughable, but also an unfounded baseless threat and a concocted story meant to entertain infants in the village school.
However, a cursory reading of the said publication succinctly portray the presence and possible sponsorship of an Esau from within. The narrative point squarely to the propaganda and frustrations of a possible insider who may have for a long time used the cover of performing his public duty to position himself possibly as the to-be state chairman.
For all intents and purposes, the mention of the big names in the fare-tale can be nothing other than a deliberate ploy or calculation to ascribe unmerited attention and or weight to the falsehood dished out to members of the public, forgetting however that Darkness and Truth are incompatible.
Without much ado, it is within public knowledge that Victor Ndoma-Egba SAN, Dr Usani Usani and Senator Owan Enoh would not contemplate to return back to Egypt (PDP) after the mercy of God has liberated them from the clutches of oppression and retrogression suffered over the years.
The claim in the publication about Dr Peter Ojie being the best qualified APC member to occupy the position of the state chairman is suspect and laughable.
For the avoidance of doubt, an emphasis the propagandists stated thus: “The person who has been prepared for the office since 2020, infact it was one of the conditions for his defection, he is the current Senior Special Adviser, Political Affairs, Chief Peter Ojie”. The faretale went further to opine that “he has been the longest serving party official in Nigeria, he has been Deputy Chairman of PDP in Cross River State for 12 years and acting chairman at a point before he was finally made a Commissioner by Senator Liyel Imoke”. The publication further stated that, Dr Ojie “has experience, very organized, composed, he was able to manage the Ward and Chapter congresses with minimal crisis”. This cannot be the issue for now and it would be preposterous for any sane person to dwell on that today.
Though the foregoing claim may not be the direct words of Chief Peter Ojie, however it is pertinent to point it out that this propaganda or mischief failed by reason of the fact that, in 2020, Ojie was not a member of the APC but in PDP, hence he could not have been so projected for the APC he came to join in May 2021.
If again the consideration/bargain for his defection to the APC was to make him APC state chairman, and now that the consideration has failed his continued loyalty to both the APC and to the leader of the APC may be be open to suspicion.
If as the publishers claimed that Dr Ojie has been Deputy Chairman (not of APC) for 12 years and acting chairman before Liyel Imoke made him commissioner then, Dr Ojie as a highly principled person should have at today not conceive the ambition to return but to give opportunity to others like Barr Eba to show case his capacity. Dr Ojie as exposed as he is should have been guided by the elementary principles of life “to live and to let others also live and also that” Everybody is somebody with no one man having the monopoly of knowledge. One does not need a university degree to be a political party administrator, but one as learned as a senior Lawyer like Barr Alphonsu Eba without more is eminently qualified to be state chairman of the APC.
The claim in the publication that Ndoma-Egba SAN, Dr Usani Usani Uguru Usani or Senator Owan Enoh all of whom are from the Central Senatorial District are to be presented as APC members against Yala Local Government Area producing the APC State Chairman in the person of Barr Eba is a gross misrepresentation of facts, an unprofitable and unpardonable lie, a story lacking in logic.
After all, Ndoma-Egba SAN was the Chairman of the APC positions zoning committee that gave clearance and authority for positions to be zoned at all levels. The question is when did he change to become an anti-zoning agent?
It is pertinent at this stage to remind both old and new APC members that all registered members of the APC are by the APC constitution equal and enjoys equal rights. The dichotomy between old and new is uncalled for and undemocratic.
It is important to emphasize that the minimum expectation from members is to work together with governor Ben Ayade, the leader of the APC and to give him the required support to reposition the state APC to an election wining party come 2023.
It is pertinent also to emphasize the point that the coming into APC by governor Ben Ayade is from all intents and purposes a divine intervention to be celebrated by all well meaning APC members hence all hands must be on deck with him.
A STITCH IN TIME SAVES NINE
Utum Eteng, an APC stakeholder, wrote in from Calabar.
The views expressed are the author’s.
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