Former Presidential Aide, Obono-Obla Laments, Says New People Have Taken Over APC In Cross River

The former chairman of the disbanded Special Presidential Investigation Panel for Public Property Recovery, Mr Okoi Obono-Obla has lamented that some new entrants into the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Cross River State have taken over party affairs and positions completely.

He lamented that those who defected alongside Governor Ben Ayade in May 2021 are now the ones benefitting from the party while the old members have been pushed aside.

Obono-Obla said that even in the recently-conducted primaries for the 2023 general elections, the positions were allocated to the new party members to the detriment of others.

He claimed the older members are being discriminated against in party affairs while state funds and resources are being used to support the new members which ought not to be so.

In his words, “the discrimination that is been dished out to the old APC members in Cross River State manifested glaringly in the highly compromised primaries for the emergence of candidates.

“The new group that joined APC has set out to emasculate those they met at the party. During the last State, Local Government Areas, and Ward Congress, State power and machinery were deployed/used to capture all the State, Local Government Areas, and Ward Executive positions for the group that came from PDP.

“How unjust, unfair, and greedy can some people be?

“Out of the 3 Senatorial tickets, all went to new entrants from PDP. Out of the 8 House of Representatives seats, six went to the new entrants. Out of the 25 House of Assembly seats, all went to the new entrants.

“None of the old APCs had any victory because State Might was used to monetise and corrupt the whole process to the advantage of the new entrants, thus edging out all the old APC? There is a grave silence to all of these shenanigans. The days ahead will determine the fate of the party in the state.”

Naija News understands Obono-Obla himself last the APC senatorial primaries for his constituency, further fueling his dissatisfaction with current developments in the state chapter of the party.

He warned that the current trend may not augur well for the APC in Cross River and called on the national leadership as well as other relevant stakeholders to intervene.

“What’s happening in Cross River State APC, requires men of good conscience to speak up. The injustice perpetuated by hegemonists in Cross River has become nauseating,” he said.