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The party leadership expressed dissatisfaction over a legal petition allegedly filed by some concerned APC stakeholders in Northern Cross River against the sitting senator of the Northern Senatorial District.
The directive was given during a press briefing held on Monday at the party’s secretariat, where the State Working Committee and the State Executive Committee convened to deliberate on key political issues.
Speaking at the briefing, Alphonsus Eba, the State party Chairman, reiterated that any legal matters concerning the party must be authorized by the party leadership to avoid misrepresentation and internal division.
The APC reaffirmed its endorsement of Prince Bassey Otu and his deputy, Peter Odey, as the party’s sole candidates for the 2027 gubernatorial election. The chairman emphasized that their performance in office has justified their continued leadership, stating, “Nobody changes a winning team.”
He said “We want to sound a note of warning to every member of our party. On no account should anybody in the name of our party engage any lawyer for any purpose that seems to give an impression that this party is behind it.
“Therefore the petitions purportedly authorized by the APC concerned group written against the sitting senator of Northern Senatorial District on issue of the 12.5 billion Naira Constituency Fund is not from us and we disassociate ourselves fully from it.
“We have decided to start, and to make it known, that in front of the Peregrino Government House of Cross River States, the State Working Committee of the party, and the State Executive Committee of the party, met today, and have come and resolved, that Senator Prince Bassi Edet Otu, is our sole candidate for the Governorship election of 2027.
“It was a joint ticket that they had, with His Excellency, the present acting Governor, RT Hon Peter Odey, a young man whom we have found so much loyalty to, we have seen so much intellect, we have seen so much support base for the Governor. Nobody changes a winning team, and we know that the Governor is a man that is filled with wisdom. It is therefore the decision of this party, that these two best pair, by the special grace of God, will fly the flag of our party in 2027.
“All party members, support groups, are therefore commissioned to freely go into the field, and to continue the evangelical mission that will now take them to the field. Nobody speaks to the converted. We need to do more work, with our brothers and sisters in the opposition, to join hands with us.
“This is because, Cross River State politics has been run on a trajectory of peace, love, unity, growth, and perfect understanding, of movement from the South, that went to the Central, and went to the North, and has now berthed back in the South.
“And because the Constitutional Federal Republic of Nigeria guarantees the right to seek second term, and because this party is in full support of His Excellency the Governor and his deputy, even if he is unwilling to run, we are saying that we will procure only one ticket, and we will have his name, just like we did in 2023. We are appealing to him, to hack into the heartbeat of members of our party, who want him to continue the good works”.
The ruling party vowed to unseat all Federal Lawmakers of the People’s Democratic Party in Cross River Northern Senatorial District.
“We also want to say to the senator, it is time for governance. We call on everybody to support the governance of Prince Bassey Edet Otu, as well as this party also supporting them in opposition even though we have made up our minds to work very hard to make sure that the seats being occupied by National Assembly members in the Northern Senatorial District by the opposition party will evaporate, will go, will disappear and be thrown into the cesspit of emotional flotsam and jetsam before the next election.
“ And as soon as it is the next election we’ll have an APC senator, we’ll have an APC House of Rep members that will take over the affairs of the Northern Senatorial District.”-Eba said.
The party called for members to abide by party directives, engage their constituents effectively, and refrain from activities that could undermine the party’s collective interests
