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| Rt. Hon. Joseph Bassey |
Nyok|5 March 2019
The constituents in Ward Eleven (11) of Calabar South State Constituency 2 in the Southern Senatorial District of Cross River State have been charged to vote in the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, particularly Gov Ben Ayade in the forthcoming Saturday 9th March guber and State House of Assembly elections NEGROIDHAVEN has confirmed.
This was done Monday while the House of Assembly candidate, Rt. Hon. Joseph Bassey nee Papa campaigned through the 8 zones of the Ward soliciting the votes of the constituents. While appreciating the 2015 supports of the constituency, he added that, it is only a matter of equity for the incumbent governor, Sen. Prof. Ben Ayade, be voted for a second term to complete an 8 years tenure in sequence with the eight years of the Southern and Northern Senatorial District of previous years since 1999.
He said that by 2023, if the north in the incumbent governor completes a two term, the south could easily vie for governor unchallenged. According to him, ‘Ayade needs to complete his tenure of 8 years so that power will return to the south’. He said that the APC is not a party for the south. He cautioned the constituency not to enthroned the APC in the south, but, the PDP. In his words, ‘APC is not in Cross River State, they don’t even have a governorship candidate’.
While addressing the audience, Rt. Hon. Bassey argued that his opponent in APC, Victor Bassey, was his benefactor, but, fell out with him out of disloyalty. Bassey informed members of the constituency that as a ranking member of the 8th Cross River State House of Assembly he had more chances to be the speaker of the 9th State House of Assembly and that had implications for the constituency. For me, ‘as a ranking member, we are like the legislative archive and institutional memory of the House of Assembly, the older you are, the most likelihood of your being promoted. A new member can only wait to be ranked’. The APC candidate will be relegated to the background.
He promised consistent empowerment for the constituency, educational scholarship and employment opportunities from 2019 and beyond. He observed that the reason for his characteristic accessibility is in keeping with the Scriptures where Jesus talked about giving to Him through giving to the needy.
His campaign speeches were greeted with loud cheers of the phrase: ‘Papa issa goal’.
