As the deadline for conducting the All Progressives Congress, APC, primaries draw near, a former senator representing the southern district of Cross River State in south-south Nigeria, Senator Bassey Otu, has entered the gubernatorial race.
Senator Otu, who served in the Nigerian senate from 2011 to 2015, has scrapped the idea of returning to the Senate, which he again contested for and lost in 2019.
Otu declared his intention to contest a governorship seat under the APC platform at Adiabo ward in the Odukpani local government area.
Another chieftain and businessman seeking the APC governorship ticket is Barr. Chris Agara, a personal ally of the Cross River State Governor, Professor Ben Ayade.
Agara expressed his interest in participating in the 2023 governorship election at the APC secretariat in Calabar, urging the party leadership to provide a level playing ground for all aspirants during the primaries.
The aspirant harped on the need for the APC to remain one indivisible body to make a real impact come 2023, saying, “I am a loyal party man. United we stand, divided we fall. Part of the reason my team and I are here is to notify the house of my ambition to declare and contest for the seat of the governor of Cross River State.
“I solicit your support as no man goes to battle without members of his community and hopes to emerge victorious at the end of the battle. I am the only person with the capacity to do the job of the governor in 2023,” he stated.
NEW ENTRANT
A new entrant into the political arena of Cross River State, an engineer and businessman, is Nsa Ekpenyong. He is another person who has indicated an interest in vying for the gubernatorial seat under the APC platform.
Although Eng. Ekpenyong was yet to make his ambition known to the party and the people of Cross River State, close associates revealed to Voice of Nigeria that the aspirant was consulting with critical stakeholders to garner support.
A former Commissioner for Lands and onetime deputy governorship aspirant in the then All People’s Party, APP, Mr Edem Ekong recently informed members of the party at the ward of his intention to enter the governorship race.
Ekong was amongst those who recently defected from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to the APC, following the governor’s stance on zoning the governorship ticket to the south.
Through his body language, the immediate past Commissioner for Finance, Asuquo Ekpenyong junior, who is the Cross River representative of the national APC Youth Lobby Group, has shown interest in contesting the gubernatorial primaries.
So far, seven persons, including a former senator representing the central senatorial district, Senator John Owan-Enoh and Mr Ben Akak, another business tycoon, have either openly or otherwise showed interest as people with the requisite capacity to be the party’s gubernatorial flag bearer.
Although the party was yet to begin the sales of forms to aspirants, and the governor as leader of the party in the state has not reneged on the power shift to the southern senatorial district, the majority of the people hoped that the APC would provide an open platform for every aspirant to contest for the ticket.
E/Suzan O.
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