The State Chapter of the Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC) says it read with rude shock in the National dailies and Social Media, the purported call by the State Chapter of the All Progressive Congress (APC) for the resignation or impeachment of the Executive Governor of Cross River State, Sen Prof Ben Ayade.
IPAC describes such a call as reckless, unpatriotic and wicked considering that some of the said offences that warranted their call are not peculiar to the state alone.
On Security, it is a known fact that many APC controlled states like Benue, Kaduna, Zamfara, Borno, Imo and Yobe are currently faced with different security challenges, the latest being the killing of over eighty persons by Fulani herdsmen in Benue State.
It is also pertinent to remind our friends that the APC led federal Government under President Muhammadu Buhari is also grappling with renewed insecurity issues which include, pipeline vandalization by Niger Delta Avengers in the South South, suicide bombings by members of the Boko Haram sect in the North East, gruesome killings by Fulani Herdsmen especially in the North Central and series of protests by the indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) which has led to several deaths in the South East.
Therefore the call on the Cross River State House of Assembly to impeach the Governor if he refuses to resign is illogical and unthinkable as it can also be seen as an indirect call by the Party in state the for the impeachment of the President by the National Assembly despite all his concerted efforts at repositioning National Security just like Governor Ayade is doing.
Furthermore, communal conflicts in Cross River State are as old as the state and the governor just like his predecessors, is doing everything within his powers to bring lasting peace between the various warring communities. For the upsurge in other crimes in the state like kidnapping and armed robbery, it is safe to say that, the ‘CHANGE ‘ philosophy of the APC is what has brought about hardship, thus forcing some people into crime and criminality.
The party also cited the journeys embarked upon by Gov Ayade as well as the signing of MOUs which they allege has not seen the light of day right from its inception. It is a known fact that, the signing of MOUs is akin to a seed planting exercise and will always take some time before they germinate. If this exercise is an easy one, Nigerians could have started reaping the benefit of the several MOUs signed by President Buhari with different countries, the most recent being that signed with the Chinese government.
The APC in Cross River State also listed as one of Governor Ayade’s crime, the venturing, to execute projects, which are exclusively in the purview of the federal Government like the deep seaport, super highway, establishment of the Green Police and homeland Security among others. Let us remind our dear brothers that Cross River State had the privilege of hosting the president who came to personally perform the ground-breaking ceremony of the Super Highway. We therefore wonder why the president who is from far away Katsina will embrace such a project by giving his nod and people who are suppose to be direct beneficiaries of the project when concluded will not give it the necessary support. It must be abundantly clear to the party that Cross River State is not the only state in the federation venturing into such projects and it is only the Federal Government that reserves the right to approve or disapprove such proposals from the state.
Challenging any government policy or programme it considers Anti People or unconstitutional in a competent court of law would have been more honourable rather than display ignorance on the pages of newspapers and social media all in a bid to discredit the Governor Ayade.
Cross River State is greater than any party or individual. Let us eschew malice, hatred, party politics and ethnicity and join hands and hearts with the Governor to deliver on his campaign promises to our people.
Dear Comrades, we admonish you to be solutions providers instead of be an avalanche of problems to our dear state. If we must criticise, we must do so and come out with recommendations as failure to do so, only makes us arm chair critics. We are all partners in the development process of our dear State; unwarranted impeachment and any call for the governor’s removal is counter-productive and a clog in the wheel of progress.
Mr Patrick Ali
Cross River State Chairman, IPAC
- The views expressed are IPAC’s and not the views of www.calitown.com
