APC protesters in Calabar
By PATRICK ABANG, Calabar –
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Cross River State has embarked on a protest in Calabar, over the appointment of Asu Okang as the Commissioner representing the State on the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
The protesters displayed placards with inscriptions such as: “APC reject ASU Okang”, “APC say No to ASU Okang”, “We cannot work with opposition”, “We loose Woman Leader, we Cannot lose this one” etc.
Recalled that on Tuesday, President Bola Tinubu approved the appointment of a new Board and Management team for the NDDC.
Reacting to the appointment of Mr Asu Okang, the party alleged that in the last election, the said Okang’s business was to destroy properties of APC members in Etung LGA where he is from, maimed and injured APC members noting that all cases had already been reported to the police.
Addressing the unhappy crowd at the APC secretariat, the State Chairman, APC, Barr Alphonsus Eba said, “we are yet to recover from the injustice done on the National Women Leader position and while we hope that Mr President will have an ample opportunity to address this twin issues. It is a call to him to put his search light on Cross River State.
According to him: “We want to declare Asu Okang a Personae non grata and everybody that’s associated with him. Henceforth, they shall not enter Cross River State again until this is reverse. We call on Mr President to first investigate the presidency that who ever is involve in this inglorious shame that is bringing him to this disrepute should immediately be sacked.
“This is like pouring salt or fuel to injury which is already lacerated. I want to appeal to all of us, it is not really a good time in our country, we don’t want hoodlums to hijack this peaceful protest you have taken.
“I want to believe and we all want to believe that Mr President is not aware of these and because the president is not aware, the best approach will be for us to officially write to Mr President.
“Please retire back peacefully while order is been restore in this regard. We assure you that this will not stand, he emphasized.
Also speaking during the protest, Special Adviser to the governor on General Duty, Barr Ekpenyong Akiba, maintained that Cross River State is not a place for settlement of those that are not from our party.
“Etung LGA is not an area that is producing oil and it cannot be considered in Cross River State, the only LGA that produces oil in Cross River State is Bakassi as shown in the NDDC Act and Asu Okang is not from Bakassi LGA. When you make a man to head where he doesn’t belong to he cannot function.
“So for us, it is a gross violation of the law and we have been hinted that NIMASA appointment is coming, whoever that wants to settle whoever should know that APC has only Cross River State as a governor in whole South South and APC should give Cross River State its due position, he stated.
Dr Edem Ebong, Chairman of All APC Support Group in Cross River State also expressed displeasure over what is happening in the State.
He said, “It is abnormal, it is quite unethical for Monkey to work and Baboon eat. We suffered for APC in Cross River State under rain and Sun but to our greatest surprise a staunch PDP man who fought us to a standstill was given a juicy appointment.
“The appointment that is capable of taking care of 10,000 APC youths of Cross River State and I don’t think Mr President is aware of this appointment, so people are sitting somewhere to doctor the list and then publish it on the media. I am standing to say that we reject the appointment of Mr Asu Okang. For now we don’t have a representative in NDDC because Asu Okang cannot represent us, we will not accept it.
“Our governor should be given the chance to pick who to represent Cross River State at the NDDC board and we appeal that Mr President remove Asu Okang from that NDDC board otherwise there will be no peace in Cross River State’, he said.
