We can reliably inform that Nelson Ofem, currently representing Yakurr I State Constituency in the Cross River State House if Assembly, appears to have lost his bid to return to the Assembly, for a second term as political forces within his party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, have turned their back on his candidature, opting instead for Ikpi Ubana Eyong, a young upwardly mobile lawyer, as the build up to next year’s elections gather momentum, www.calitown.com can reveal.
We gathered that, the decision to prevent the lawmaker from returning to the Assembly may have been championed by these forces with the firm believe that he is unlikely to squarely defeat Ikpi Eni, the candidate for the same position being fielded by the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the election.
Reliably too, www.calitown.com was informed that for strategic political reasons, it was reasoned that it is political suicide for the PDP to leave Ugep, the hub of Yakurr Constituency I, without any elective position, smarting closely from Ugep’s perceived inability to grab the CR Central Senatorial slot of the PDP, after she paraded the highest number of aspirants vying for the position.
“The reasoning was that if we do not plug the political hole in Ugep, we would lose a chunk of the votes coming from there. Some of us understand that it is politically expedient to keep the votes there PDP friendly, considering that a few high profile APC appointees who could do the PDP some political damage, are from there. We consulted extensively and decided in the end that Nelson Ofem will have to make do with only four years in the House of Assembly; he has tried his best, we give that to him but he cannot do another four years because the dynamics that favoured him four years ago, are not in place again. We wish him well, but like they say, his office let another take”, one stakeholder from the area maintained to www.calitown.com.
Ikpi Ubana Eyong, picked to replace Ofem, has embarked on wide consultations as he has been advised to do and has also gone on social media to post pictures of himself with vital documents showing him as the PDP candidate in the upcoming polls. “Finally the will of God has manifested itself. For everything on earth there is time and season. I thank God and everyone who stood by me and supported this cause. This is the time for us to come together and work for the success of the party. Today it is Barr Ikpi Ubana Eyong, tomorrow may be you. The train has left the station, won’t you rather join us?”, Ubana, wrote on his Facebook wall.
