There are indications on the ground that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, state congress in Cross River State may end in a stalemate as opposing forces in the party appear not to have shifted grounds in a political battle that has pitched state governor, Ben Ayade and his acolytes against National Assembly members from the state.
While the state governor has severally been accused by the National Assembly members of running the party in the state without as much as consulting them, the National Working Committee, NWC, of the party which long verified a National Assembly members-backed list of local government and ward executives of the party (who form the other part of an extensive delegates list for the congress), has not caved in to pressure from the CR state government, to okay an alternative list of executives, long circulated by government, for use at Saturday’s congress.
Frantic legal attempts by state government backed persons to secure a court judgement in the governor’s team favour suffered a massive blow Wednesday, when Hon. Justice Elias Abua, the vacation judge in Calabar, excused himself from the case, citing integrity concerns and subsequently returning the case file to the Acting Chief Judge. We gathered that the judge’s decision threw confusion in the governor’s camp and compelled them to head for Ikom, CR Central, where another vacation judge is available, hoping to secure an interlocutory injunction against the use of what has been christened “The Authentic List”, by the other faction of the party.
However, competent security sources, who have elected to remain anonymous for obvious reasons, are warning that desperate measures are presently being put in place by suspected government backed agents, should legal methods fail. Pressed for more information, www.calitown.com was informed that several trouble thirsty persons are being recruited for sinister motives that may result in violence during the congress. “The idea is to have these elements make trouble and cow delegates into doing the bidding of some government people. They have approached some people suspected to be cultists to come and reign terror; I hope you now see why it is difficult for us security agents to curb cultism. These boys take orders from these government backed people and when we arrest them, these masters put pressure on us and in a jiffy, these cultists are out. It is a pity for us all but these politicians always stop at nothing to have their will done. We will advise that nobody’s action should threaten the peace and stability of this state because we already have enough on our hands, tackling insecurity”, we were told.
Meanwhile, a third person, former Speaker of the Cross River State House of Assembly, Francis Busan Adah, is also running for state chairman of the party according to documents sighted in the course of this report. He joins Venatius Ikem and Alphonsus Eba, also vieing for the position.
