8 April 2019
PRESS STATEMENT
Re: Threat To Tribunal Testifiers: Abi C'taker Chair Warns APC, Traditional Rulers
The attention of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Cross River State and Dr. Alex Egbona Campaign Organization, has been drawn to a sponsored release published in an online publication, CROSS RIVER DAILY, purportedly signed by one Barrister Iwasam Adaga, Chairman of the Abi Local Government Security Council cum Caretaker Committee (the illegal and Kangaroo body hurriedly put together on the eve of the election by Gov. Ben Ayade to rig election) calling on the APC in the State as well as Abi traditional rulers "to desist from threatening and intimidating agents of the People's Democratic Party shortlisted to testify before the tribunal handling Abi/Yakurr Federal Constituency election petition."
According to the publication, Barr. Adaga alleged that some members of his party, particularly in Ekureku Wards 1 & 2 billed to appear before the election tribunal as witnesses were being threatened by chieftains of the APC and traditional rulers in Ekureku community of Abi local government area ostensibly to discourage them from appearing before the tribunal.
The APC wishes to respond to the above allegation as follows:
(1). That it is a concoction of spurious and fallacious propaganda by the PDP in the state to hoodwink the tribunal and sway it from the course of justice as the ruling party in Cross River State is desperate to upturn the mandate the people of Abi/Yakurr Federal Constituency have freely given Chief Dr. Alex Egbona to represent them at the National Assembly.
(2). That the people of Abi/Yakurr Federal Constituency had on February 23, 2019 voted overwhelmingly for Dr. Alex Egbona and the APC because of the abysmal failure of the PDP and its candidate Barrister John Gaul Lebo to make any meaningful impact on their lives and the constituency and given the excellent track record of the APC candidate, Dr. Alex Egbona as a philanthropist who has been assisting the less privileged and has invested heavily in human capital development in the constituency. We challenge Gov Ayade and Speaker John Gaul Lebo to point to one thing they have done for the people of Abi local government area since the past four years to earn the legitimate votes of the people, if not through rigging and manipulation?
(3). That Ekureku community of Abi local government area is where Dr. Alex Egbona hails from and his strongest support base, where he has touched many lives from his days as a Councillor, Deputy Chief of Staff and Chief of Staff, where he has worked very hard with a sturdy political bulwark. His victory in the February 23, National Assembly elections was therefore not a surprise to those who knew his antecedents and popularity among his people. Even Adadama community, where John Gaul Lebo hails from, voted overwhelmingly for Dr. Egbona given the fact that their son John Gaul Lebo, the current Speaker of the State House of Assembly is a political liability to them having failed woefully to touch a single life in the community.
(4). That we are aware of the desperation on the part of PDP leaders in the State to use the tribunal to buy over or steal the people's mandate as expressed in Chief Alex Egbona's victory because they NEVER expected him to win in the first place having made frantic efforts to bribe party agents to ensure that he lost the election yet the people's will prevailed.
We are therefore confident that our victory in Abi/Yakurr Federal Constituency remains sacrosanct and that our victories in other constituencies which were robbed by the PDP using manipulation, intimidation, and outright violence, be it the national, state assembly and governorship election, will be rescued through the tribunal as we have great confidence in the judiciary. We advise the PDP in the state to begin now to nurture in themselves the requisite temperament and orientation for the implantation of civil, democratic ethos in this era of enlightened comportment. So, Iwasam Adaga's allegation is spacious and laughable.
Signed………
DAN AMOR
Spokesperson for APC Campaign Organization,
Cross River State.
March 8, 2019.
