The All Progressives Congress (APC), faithful in Cross River State have embarked on a protest in Calabar over the appointment of a staunch PDP member, Asu Okang, as the Commissioner representing the State on the board of the Niger Delta Commission (NDDC).
Presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, made it known in a statement yesterday that President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of a new Board and Management team for the NDDC.
Consequentially, the State APC has rejected the recent appointment of Mr Asu Okang, stressing that in the last election, the said Okang’s business was to destroy the properties of APC members in Etung LGA, where he is from, and maim and injure APC members, noting that all cases had already been reported to the police.
Tribune Online witnessed the protest, which commenced at the Eleven-eleven roundabout and headed to the APC State Secretariat; thereafter, protesters proceeded to the NDDC State Office, where the office was locked.
Addressing the unhappy crowd at the APC secretariat, the State Chairman, APC, Barr Alphonsus Eba, said, “We are yet to recover from the injustice done on the National Women Leader position, and while we hope that Mr. President will have ample opportunity to address these twin issues, It is a call to him to put his searchlight on Cross River State.
According to him, “We want to declare Asu Okang a persona non grata and everybody that’s associated with him.
Henceforth, they shall not enter Cross River State again until this is reversed. We call on Mr. President to first investigate the presidency, and anyone involved in this inglorious shame that is bringing him into disrepute should be immediately sacked.
“This is like pouring salt or fuel on an injury that is already lacerated. I want to appeal to all of us; it is not really a good time in our country, and we don’t want hoodlums to hijack this peaceful protest you have taken.
“I want to believe, and we all want to believe, that Mr. President is not aware of these, and because the president is not aware, the best approach will be for us to officially write to Mr. President.
“Please retire peacefully while order is restored in this regard. We assure you that this will not stand, he emphasised.
Also speaking during the protest, Special Adviser to the Governor on General Duty, Barr Ekpenyong Akiba, maintained that Cross River State is not a place for the settlement of those who are not from our party.
“Etung LGA is not an area that produces oil, and it cannot be considered in Cross River State; the only LGA that produces oil in Cross River State is Bakassi, as shown in the NDDC Act, and Asu Okang is not from Bakassi LGA. When you make a man go somewhere he doesn’t belong, he cannot function.
“So for us, it is a gross violation of the law, and we have been hinted that NIMASA’s appointment is coming; whoever wants to settle, whoever should know that APC has only Cross River State as a governor in the whole South-South, and APC should give Cross River State its due position, he stated.
Dr. Edem Ebong, Chairman of the All APC Support Group in Cross River State, also expressed displeasure over what is happening in the State.
He said, “It is abnormal; it is quite unethical for monkeys to work and baboons to eat. We suffered for the APC in Cross River State under rain and sun, but to our greatest surprise, a staunch PDP man who fought us to a standstill was given a juicy appointment.
“The appointment that is capable of taking care of 10,000 APC youths of Cross River State, and I don’t think Mr President is aware of this appointment, so people are sitting somewhere to doctor the list and then publish it on the media.
I am standing to say that we reject the appointment of Mr. Asu Okang. For now, we don’t have a representative in the NDDC because Asu Okang cannot represent us, and we will not accept it.
“Our governor should be given the chance to pick who to represent Cross River State at the NDDC board, and we appeal that Mr President remove Asu Okang from that NDDC board; otherwise, there will be no peace in Cross River State, he averred.
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