BREAKING NEWS: C'River APC Counters Ayade, Rejects Zoning Of Governorship, Others

The All Progressives Congress (APC), in Cross River State has disclosed that the party has not zoned the governorship seat to any senatorial part of the State, stating it clearly that any eligible aspirant from the state is free to contest for the ticket.

This is against Governor Ben Ayade's declaration that his successor should come from southern senatorial district, the zone next in line in the unwritten zoning arrangement in the state.

The State Chairman of the party, Alphonsus Eba-Ogar made this known while briefing journalists at the party secretariat in Càlabar.

He said with this pronouncement, the governorship as well as other positions have been thrown open by the party.

He however pointed out that if there are any adjustments, the State caucus will meet and take a collective decision on them.

He said the governor is advocating for an end to the division between the old and new APC in the state and he does not want the people who built the APC house to feel side-lined.

“The governor wants the party to “put an end to anything called old and new, and everybody in the APC that is involved in administration from the polling unit structure must also eradicate this line of division”

“We must not give room to members of this party who built the house before some of us came to live in to feel side-lined.

“So in whatever we do there must be proper balance, equity, fairness and so every member of this party whether you joined the party before 2014 or you joined on May 20, 2021 we are all on equal base.

“We all have equal rights based on the waiver that has been given by the national office everybody is eligible to contest, so the task for you is to return back to your unit and people and sell yourself”, he said.

On the second phase of the membership drive, the party chairman said the success recorded during the first phase where over one million people were registered necessitated the need for the second phase and another one million people are being targeted.

He said “When we came on board we told our people that our mission was political evangelism. The first phase of that evangelical mission has recorded huge successes.

“The benefit of that was that the number of registered members in the APC today has increased tremendously.

“In fact I was alerted the various chapter chairmen ran short of registration materials and the party took it upon themselves to again go and procure materials that will be able to register another one million people into our party.

“Today we are happy to say that we have started another phase of political evangelism.

“It is coming at a time where we expect all members of the party which are the one million members we have to be commissioned as political evangelists:”, he said.

He said all candidates who are seeking to fly the party’s flag must go to their units and win souls for the party as that is the partnership the party wants from them.

He said the various caucuses of the party will be set up right from the local government level so as to help the party present the best candidates for all elective positions in the state.

He said though the governor promised to zone the governorship to the south “but he remains a democrat and not an autocrat and so the expression of an opinion just as I expressed mine in the past does not represent the final position of the party”, he said.