Cross River APC Leaders Tackles Ndoma-Egba
Onyebuchi Ezigbo A forum of concerned elders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Cross Rivers State has faulted the recent visit by the Senate Leader, Chief Victor Ndoma-Egba to the presidentelect, General Muhammadu Buhari.
The forum described the Senate Leader and those that were on delegation as “political gold-diggers.”
The APC elders said they are opposed to any attempt by the Ndoma Egba-led group to stampede the president-elect or foist themselves on the Cross Rivers chapter of APC, adding that “only a few weeks ago, they were vociferous in their opposition to Buhari’s ambition, raising dubious, sectional and religious sentiments.”
However, the Senate Leader has reacted to the charge, saying that contrary to the false allegation by the APC group, he only led a non-partisan delegation of patriotic Cross River indigenes to take the case of the sufferings of the people to Buhari.
A statement issued by his Special Assistant on Media, Ignatius Uzuegbulam, described the attack on the person of the Senate Leader as unwarranted and naive.
The statement stated: “For the avoidance of doubt, I clearly stated during the visit that I was leading a non partisan group to see the president-elect.
“The suffering of the people of our dear state has no party affiliation. The painful loss of Bakassi and our oil wells which has further impoverished our people; is a problem we all have been living with since the sad events took place,” he said.
But the statement issued in Abuja yesterday by the APC elders, Hon. Eyo Nsa Ekpo, Hon. Ekeng Iwatt Effiom. Cyprian Oyom Igban, Agim Lawrence Ikwen, Capt. Oyo Ita and Elder David Okon, said they would do everything possible to resist the antics of the people they described as members of “Any Government in Power (AGIP).”
The statement read: “the Concerned elders are however disturbed by the timing of this visit and the demands tabled before our presidentelect, Ndoma Egba has been prominent part of decision making process in Cross Rivers State and Nigeria as a three-time senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, majority whip in his second term and majority leader in his third term. It was in his tenure Cross Rivers State finally lost Bakassi to Cameroun and witnessed the most degrading form of infrastructural decay.”
According to the elders, “none of us heard Ndoma Egba raising any voice in the senate when Cross Rivers State was short-changed with the ceding of Bakassi to Cameroun without the consent of her people.
They also berated NdomEgba for not doing much to resist the “ceding of our oil wells and land territories to Akwa Ibom State.”
For receiving the Ndoma Egba group, the APC leaders however commended the president-elect, adding that he has demonstrated that he has a non-partisan agenda as the chief architect in the emerging Nigeria.