Prominent sons of Cross River State are beginning to speak against the imposition of candidates for the 2027 general elections. They want leaders of the ruling APC, including the governor, Senator Bassey Otu, to create a transparent atmosphere for the selection of candidates by the people.
This comes even as many have expressed the fear that the governor may be contemplating to use the style he used in the selection of candidates during the last local government election, where he assembled stakeholders from the state and brought out a piece of paper with prepared names of his choice candidates and announced to the crowd.
Some prominent members of the party have expressed concerns as to the governor’s plans, especially as he was yet to talk about the mode of selection of candidates for the election, whether consensus or open primaries.
Although, the amended Electoral Act provides that in the event that a consensus option is to be adopted, all the aspirants must agree to the idea before it can sail through. The implication is that if the people did not agree to the consensus idea, everybody must be allowed to face the party members for a primary election.
On Friday, High Chief Higgins Peters, a chieftain of the APC and business mogul from Ukelle, Yala Local Government Area of Cross River State told his kinsmen at a meeting in that part of the state, that it would be difficult for anybody or group of persons from outside the senatorial district to choose who would occupy their senate seat.
He said emphatically that “the north is united. The north will decide who represents them in the National Assembly. The governor is the leader of the party but the north will sit down and decide who leads them and then go to the governor and the party.”
He said he would speak more on the matter between Friday and Monday. But he insisted that nobody will be allowed to impose a candidate on the people.
His views came amidst speculations that there may be some underground scheming to crown some aspirants across the state against the wishes of the people.
During the week, another stakeholder in the state and former presidential adviser, Chief Okoi Obono-Obla, had warned against imposition plans.
“I am afraid that the APC in Cross River State may likely implode if a sincere, open, transparent, and democratic stakeholders’ meeting is not immediately convened—one that invites all shades of people from diverse ideological backgrounds, wings, and tendencies, and allows them to freely air their opinions, prisms, and perspectives on how to navigate the nomination of candidates.
“If the same system employed during the last Ward, Local Government, and State Congresses, as well as the last Local Government nomination of candidates—where very committed and loyal members of the Party were excluded simply because they were wrongly perceived as outspoken, vocal, not “Yes men,” or simply unwanted by those in power—is repeated, then the party will bottle up resentment, ill feelings, and rebellion that could snowball into anti‑party activities during the 2027 general elections.
“The time has come for stakeholders to discuss, deliberate and forge a consensus on the forthcoming primary election. Are we going to have a primary election or a consensus? Already, in Lagos State, such a forum has been convened and a consensus forged on the way forward. It is high time we did the same in Cross River State. The seeming peace in APC Cross River State today is nothing more than the peace of the graveyard—eerily quiet but deeply unsettled.”
Mr Cletus Obun, a former member of the state house of assembly and chieftain of the APC, in an interview with TNN on the issue, expressed the hope that the governor would call all stakeholders for a meeting where transparent discussions would take place on the issue of how to bring out candidates for the various positions.
