Elders and political leaders from the southern Senatorial district of Cross River state, under the aegis of Southern Initiative, have insisted that the governorship position of the state should return to the southern district in line with the state’s zoning arrangement.
They also derided one of their sons and former governor, Mr Donald Duke, over comments credited to him and allegedly directed at Senator Bassey Otu, the APC governorship candidate which tend to be contrary to the zoning agitation.
Duke was quoted, in a viral video monitored in Calabar, as describing the Back to South agitation as an attempt by Governor Ben Ayade to continue in office through a surrogate, Sen Otu.
In a press conference, Thursday in Calabar, coordinator of the Initiative, Etubom (Arch) Bassey Ndem, said, “Back to South is merely another way of saying, let the office of Governor rotate sequentially from one senatorial district to another.
“This is for the sake of justice, equity, fair play, and brotherly accomodation; For the sake of minimising cut throat and violent competition; For the sake of minimising the oppresion of the minority,”
Etubom Ndem, who was flanked by former envoy to Mali, Amb Nya Asuquo, former Head of Service of the federation, Mrs Winifred Oyo-Ita, among many other leaders from the zone’s seven local government areas, said Duke’s vituperation against the agitation of his people was “disingenuous and treacherous.”
A press statement, read by former deputy governorship candidate, Hon Sylvester Nsa, on behalf the group, said “Our son, HE Donald Duke, cannot deny that the people the southern senatorial districts and others stood very firmly with him as relatively unknown as he was in 1999.
“For our own son to equate the beautiful principle of orderly and equitable rotation of power encapsulated in the Back to South Slogan, and rather equate it to ‘Back to status quo’, “Back to Ayade’s”, ” Back to single-handedly picked surrogate”, is a most unfortunate betrayal of every Cross Riverian who believes in justice, equity and accommodation.
“It is more painful that this is coming from someone from the South who benefited so much but now left the south stranded at the end of his flashy reign.”
