Efio-Ita Nyok|13 February 2016|9:40am
These are the prominent politicians that are defecting to the All Progressives Congress-APC in Cross River State today 13 February 2016 at 10am at Government Secondary School field, Atu. They include but are not limited to:
1. Sen. Victor Ndoma-Egba, SAN
2. Sen. Bassey Edet Otu
3. Amb. Soni Abang
4. Prince Goddy Jedy-Agba
5. Hon. Venatius Ikem
6. Rt. Hon. Paul Adah
7. Ntufam Fidelis Ugbo
8. Dr. Alex Egbona
9. Dr. Sandy Onor
10. Sonny Etta
11. Hon. Ernest Irek
12. Chief & Mrs. Johnson Ebokpo and
13. Dr. Matthew Achigbe
They will be received by the National Chair of the All Progressives Congress-APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun in company of the Minister for Niger Delta Affairs and erstwhile party chair at the level of the state, Pst. Usani Uguru Usani, the National Leaders of the party like Bola Ahmed Tinubu popularly referred to as the Jagaban of Bourdillon, Minister for Transportation and former Governor of Rivers State , Barr. Rotimi Amaechi, etc.
It should be noted that the original venue of this epoch making event was the U. J. Esuene Stadium which was latter changed to the present venue owing to the undemocratic intervention of His Excellency, the Governor of Cross River State, Sen. Prof. Ben Ayade who is understood to be persecuting the party. Again, there have been some ongoing scuffles transpiring between Gov. Ayade and his 'Obudu brothers' like Vena Ikem, Jedy-Agba, Hon. Paul Adah, etc on account of their defection to the APC. Among all these defectors, some powerful individuals like Donald Duke, the former governor of CRS (1999-2004), etc are 'missing in action'. In fact, one public affairs analyst and social commentator in the person of Barr. Joseph Odok, was seen to be wooing a PDP big weight, a former 2 time Deputy Speaker of CRSHA, Rt. Hon. Orok Duke on social media.
It should also be noted that the reasons underlying their defection is common, which is, they were unwholesomely deprived the party's tickets to run for election in the December 2015 Primaries. Former governor Liyel Imoke undermined internal democracy in the party during the primary thereby single handedly choosing 'whom the Lord willed'. However, the present author is quite uncomfortable with the reasons for their defection. In my opinion, the reason underlying their defection should be ideology based. Be that as it may, they are defecting today.
Our ultimate desire is that they should constitute a viable opposition and alternative to the governing People Democratic Party (PDP). They should not be defecting for mundane purposes.
Long live Cross River State!
Long live democracy!
Long live opposition politics!
Efio-Ita Nyok
Is a Blogger & Editor of Negroid Haven
