Cross River Must Wake Up: From APC Trailblazer to Local Champions in South-South and National Politics

Cross River Must Wake Up: From APC Trailblazer to Local Champions in South-South and National Politics

 

 

At a time when PDP strongholds in the South-South are quietly lobbying to align with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), it is disheartening to watch Cross River State once the pioneer APC State in the region now behaving like the headquarters of an opposition coalition.

 

The recent disruption of the NDDC project commissioning in Calabar is a glaring example of political miscalculation and internal sabotage. Instead of showcasing federal intervention and celebrating progress, the event was shamefully undermined by agents of the State Government specifically the Chairmen of Calabar South and Calabar Municipal acting under the guise of gubernatorial directives, and disturbingly aided by the NDDC State Representative, Rt. Hon. Orok Duke.

 

The orchestrated absence of Governor Senator Prince Bassey Edet Otu and virtually all State appointees (except the embattled Commissioner of Works, Mr. Pius Edet Ankpo) speaks volumes. It signals not just indifference but a dangerous disconnect from national political realities. While Delta and Akwa Ibom are smartly realigning with the center, Cross River seems to be drifting into isolation, paralyzed by fear, ego, and internal rivalries.

 

This is not the Cross River APC we fought for.

 

Governor Otu must rise above these distractions and act like the true leader we believe he is. His prolonged silence has emboldened appointees who are now openly undermining federal lawmakers and destabilizing the party from within. In the Central Senatorial District, Senator Eteng Williams continues to face sabotage from the Commissioner for Intergovernmental Relations, Mr. Oden Ewa, due to alleged senatorial ambitions. In the South, Senator Asuquo Ekpenyong is being witch-hunted by those already eyeing his seat, long before the next election cycle.

 

And it doesn’t stop there.

 

In Yakurr, one of the most proactive members of the Cross River State House of Assembly, Hon. Cyril Omini, is under coordinated political attack by the same Commissioner, simply because of his independent-minded service. In Obubra/Etung Federal Constituency, Hon. Mike Etaba faces a similar internal onslaught.

 

In Biase/Akamkpa Federal Constituency, a man who contested against Hon. Emil Inyang Hon. Austine Aidam has now been reportedly drafted into the inner circle to fuel confusion and unrest. The script is familiar: weaken loyal party leaders, plant division, and create chaos all for personal ambition.

 

Even former Governor, Professor Ben Ayade, is not spared. Just recently, he publicly called out Governor Otu for reneging on their political agreement a shocking turn that further confirms the breakdown in unity and mutual respect within the party hierarchy. This is truly sad. Who did this to us?

 

These ongoing internal power struggles are not only shameful but also dragging Cross River’s name through the mud on national platforms. In just one week, the State has been featured in national dailies not for progress or innovation, but for disarray and division. The damage is real and growing.

 

It’s no surprise that today, Cross River once the first to embrace APC is now at the bottom of the South-South pecking order at the Presidency, trailing behind Edo, Akwa Ibom, Delta, Rivers, and Bayelsa. That’s not just a fall from grace it’s a strategic failure of political leadership.

 

This is a wake-up call.

 

Let us stop shooting ourselves in the foot. Let us end the politics of bitterness and blackmail. The time to correct course is now. Cross River must return to the table of serious political actors not as spectators, but as a leading voice in national affairs.

 

By Comrade Obetem Okoi

Writing from Ugep (Central Voices)