Board appointments polarise APC in C’River

By Kingston Obung

Calabar

All is not well with the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Cross River as President Muhammadu Buhari’s recent appointments of indigenes of the state into federal government boards and agencies has threatened to destroy the foundation by which the party in was rested.
Chairman, Chairmanship Candidates Forum of the party in the yet-to-be fixed council polls in the state, Elder James Anam, who claimed to speak the mind of his colleagues and majority of the membership of the party, yesterday accused the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Mr. Usani Usani, of submitting one sided list to the presidency.
In a statement released in Calabar yesterday and made available to newsmen, Anam said the issue has the potential of robbing the party of victory in subsequent elections.
He said the list from Cross River did not reflect the opinion of stakeholders, and added, “the Presidency would take the blame for the party’s abysmal performance in future polls except it reviews the situation by ensuring that only submissions that emerge from wider consultations are placed in public space.”
The forum chairman wondered “why the presidency would renege on the report of the presidential committee on board appointments whose input from Cross River considered varied interests,” and charged Abuja to “corrects the anomaly quickly.”
His words; “I’m sure the presidency was not thorough in picking names for the appointments, if it assigned the Honorable Minister of Niger Delta Affairs the responsibility of preparing a new list from what the committee did, it should have resorted to thorough scrutiny of the said list to ensure very importantly, that the issue of lopsidedness was left out.”
In its remarks, APC Women Support Group in the state also condemned the appointments, stating that the projectors of the lopsided list desecrated the altar of peace and stability which the party was erecting to guarantee unity and strength for future election victory.
The group’s assistant publicity secretary, Mrs. Theresa Ayambem, opined in another statement, that while well meaning party stakeholders were preaching peace and harmony, “some unrepentant elements were only interested in dividing it along parochial lines.”
On his part, the National President of the Restoration Team, Comrade Iso Bassey Edim, said the appointments reflected clear case of nepotism and injustice. He promised to lead a protest to register the grievances of majority of party members if the situation is not addressed.

 

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