By Joseph Kingston
Calabar
All is not well with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Cross River state as some party leaders and friends of one of the front contenders in the 2015 governorship race, Mr Goddy Jeddy-Agba, have accused the state party leadership of impunity and intimidation.
Speaking to journalists yesterday in Calabar, the immediate past Commissioner for Agriculture in Governor Liyel Imoke’s Cabinet, and spokesman for the group, Mr Sandy Onor, said the party, led by Ntufam John Okon, were orchestrating moves aimed at frustrating ambition of Jeddy-Agba.
The group, which addressed itself as Friends of Goddy Jeddy-Agba, said there was no basis for the party leadership to have postulated that Agba was not a card-carrying member of the party whereas “Goddy Jeddy-Agba registered in his ward and is supporting the party at the state and national levels.”
Onor expressed worry that anybody who supported the ambition of or identified with Agba was being threatened with suspension.
He said: “If Goddy was not a card-carrying member of the PDP, why did Governor Imoke nominate him to be made a minister of the Federal Republic? We have it on good authority that party membership registers were removed from the Party secretariat to somewhere known to them to effect changes and disenfranchise some of us so as to blacklist Goddy.
“As we speak, our names have been removed from the list of party causes. The action of the leadership of the party is unfortunate and primitive. I expected them to be more elegant. We all pretend to be democratic but we are anything but it. I sympathize with those who are in panic mode and resorting to undemocratic means to fight their perceived enemies.”
Onor said the group was prepared to challenge any undemocratic move by the leadership of the party, and wondered why the PDP in Cross River was afraid of the candidature of Goddy Agba.