Wike, Emmanuel Head C’River PDP Bye-Election Committee

From Idongesit Inyang

CALABAR

Governor Nyesome Wike and his Akwa Ibom State counterpart, Mr Udom Emmanuel, have been appointed to lead the PDP’s campaign council for the bye-election in Cross River State.

While Governor Wike will serve as chairman of the council, MrEmmanuel will serve as co-chairman.

This is contained in a release signed by the party’s national publicity secretary, Mr. Debo Ologunagba, and made available to newsmen in Calabar.

The 22-man team has Chief Dan Orbih as secretary while other members of the campaign council are Mr. Ndudi Elumelu, Liyel Imoke, Donald Duke, Prof. Stella Effah-Attoe and Mr. Patrick Nathan Ifon.

Other members are Chief Ferdinand Alabraba, Sen. Gershom Bassey, Sen. Sandy Onor, Sen. Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe, Mr. Daniel Asuquo,  Mr.Essien Ekpenyong, Mr. Friday Okpeche, Effa Esua, Aniekan Akpan, Solomon E. Agwana, Mr. Ikem Venatius Ayabie, Mr. Kingsley Esiso, Dr. Tony Aziegbemi and Amb. Desmond Akawor.

The release added that the Directorate of Organization and Mobilization shall serve as secretariat for the council.

The bye-election in the state is scheduled to hold in the Ogoja/Yala Federal Constituency as well as the Akpabuyo State Constituency.

Meanwhile, following the recent attack by the Cross River State chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alphonsus Eba, on the Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has frowned at Eba’s statement on Wike, challenging the APC to organize a South-South event to see if its leaders will attend.

This was contained in a press statement signed by the state publicity secretary, Prince Mike Ojisi, and made available to newsmen in Calabar on Wednesday.

The PDP in the statement described Eba’s accusations on Governor Nyesom Wike as “baseless, tenuous, unsubstantiated imaginations of his not-so-fertile brain of conspiracies to destabilize Cross River State.”

It said that “The utter disrespect which underlines the press briefing granted by the factional chairman of APC, Alphonsus Eba, establishes, beyond doubt, the pre-election trauma being faced by the failure-ridden APC ahead of the bye-election on Saturday, February 26, 2022.”

According to the PDP statement, Governor Nyesom Wike’s visit to Cross River State on Saturday February 19 for the PDP bye-election flag-off rally has ruffled the APC. 

“We challenge the APC chairman to organize a similar event and attract such a personality like Governor Nyesom Wike in his party to attend. We challenge them to invite their party leaders in South-South to Cross River State” the statement added.

It condemned in strong terms the attempt by APC to stoke the embers of anarchy and violence in the state at every point during the campaigns towards the bye-election of February 26, 2022.

The PDP leaders in the state therefore called on all security agencies to note the consistent attempt by the APC in Cross River State to incite violence in the belief that they can use the machinery of government and official security outfits to intimidate the PDP.

This, it said, is because they are conscious of the fact that they cannot win the bye-election in a free and fair contest.

“As we approach the bye-election day, we call on Cross Riverians, especially the good people of Ogoja/Yala, to remember the many sins of APC in Cross River State and resist the occultic party by voting overwhelmingly for the people-oriented PDP,” the PDP statement further stated.