A subtle political plot is thickening and has so far pitched constituents from Boki II and Ikom II State Constituencies of Cross River State, against each other over who occupies the position of Speaker, Cross River State House of Assembly, CRSHA, when the 10th Legislative Assembly is constituted.
While proponents of the Boki II State Constituency for Speaker, appear to be angling their argument on the fact that Hilary Bisong, who represents them in the CRSHA, will when the Assembly is constituted, be the highest ranking House member after being reelected to the CRSHA for a record third term, but this argument is not holding water where Ikom II constituents are.
“Boki has a House of Representatives member and if we do not produce the Speaker of the CRSHA, Ikom will remain politically open, even fallow and could open up pockets of resistance that the opposition can capitalize on. I think too that we need to understand that if we have pursued equity with the Back to South agitation, that wind can also be rightly applied to cases like this”, one commentator told www.calitown.com.
But one Elias Obi, in a message sent to www.calitown.com on this issue, maintains that, “…we love to elevate mediocrity. How can we suddenly want to carpet House rules and believe strongly that a third timer to the Assembly should be tossed aside and not be given the right of refusal? Hilary Bisong will, aside from being from Boki, be the oldest member of that Assembly when it is sworn in and you think this was by omission? We cannot throw away competence and the legislative exposure that he has.”
“Current political structures in the Central District of Cross River State automatically place a demand that the Speaker of the State Assembly be zoned to Ikom LGA. Notice that out of the six local government areas that constitute the Central District…Yakkur produced the senator-elect for the central senatorial district, while Obubra, Abi and Boki produced members of the House of Representatives. It’s only Ikom and Etung that are without these key offices or positions. Since the Speaker of the state assembly is the only position left that can be equated to the above-mentioned offices, we need to consider an “empty” LGA like Ikom”, Emmanuel George Ndoma, wrote on Facebook.
He continues, “Etung may not be demanding the Speakership position since all her members elect are new, leaving Ikom as the only LG to be considered for such office. Ikom has the experience … to lead the Assembly. Therefore, there is no justifiable reason for her to be left empty.”
Independent checks are however firming up the argument that “political equations are not solved with mathematical solutions. What is ordinary to the eyes is often extra ordinary in politics. We can pontificate to the high heavens, but only a few persons will sit down and determine who becomes Speaker. The approach is to ask whoever is interested in being Speaker to go and lobby people, knowing too that this position comes with enormous responsibilities. Elvert is young, Hilary is young, but are they the effective future we hope for the CRSHA?”, one contributor who has elected to remain anonymous, told us.
Hilary Bisong enjoys the fortitude of an establishment his mother, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Calabar, Florence Obi, is believed to has spun around his ambition. “She has carrots to throw around and this process and the support anyone gets will never come for free and the woman seems to know this fact and has been putting her foot in the right places, we hope she gets the result she desires”, one Fred Icha maintains.
Elvert Ayambem on the other hand, appeared like a bolt out of the blue and won elections into the CRSHA in his first term. He relied on massive grassroot support to win a second term in the House and appears to have a firm believe that every dream can come true.
When the chips are finally down, a winner will emerge, from among this two All Progressives Congress, APC, elected legislators, but it will not be out of place to watch the guesses and imputations before a Speaker for the CRSHA emerges.
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