Godwin Ajom, Calabar
There may have been jubilation in the camp of the PDP in Cross River State following the emergence of Mrs Emana Ambrose Amawhe, a former broadcaster with Channels Television, as running mate to Prof Sandy Onor, candidate of the party for the 2023 governorship election.
According to party sources, this is largely because of the personae of the running mate and the fact that she is the first female deputy governorship candidate in the state since the advent of the current democracy in 1999.
TNN learnt that her emergence may have been divinely orchestrated. The first person that was considered for the position was said to have been dropped when stakeholders came up with superior argument that a woman should be considered for the office.
The first female candidate that was considered, according to sources, was Nkoyo Toyo. She was said to have been approached by some leaders of the party, a suggestion she did not accept. Toyo has been a die- hard proponent of the back to south agenda, a euphemism for power shift to the southern part of the state.
After she rejected the offer, the stakeholders were said to have approached Amawhe, who had contested for the ticket of the House of Representatives seat of Calabar South/Akpabuyo/Bakassi. She had lost to the incumbent Essien Ayi.
Some PDP leaders were said to have suggested to Onor that Amawhe would be a better running mate, considering her contacts, intelligence and youthfulness. Onor had told the leaders that Toyo had earlier been approached for the office.
However, just as Toyo rejected the offer, Amawhe was said to have been contacted and told to get ready for the position. But no sooner had she been told to get ready for the office than Toyo called a former governor and told him that she had changed her mind and was ready to accept the offer.
TNN learnt that the former governor told her that since she had rejected the offer, someone else had been picked and that the person had already been told to proceed to Abuja for documentations and screening.
With her selection, TNN learnt that there was joy in the party, even though some of the party members kicked against her choice. But a vast majority of the stakeholders, including former governors in the state had endorsed her choice and expressed willingness to support her and the governorship candidate to succeed.
But some individuals are still angling for a change. Some youths in Akpamkpa Local Government are of the view that the running mate should come from their local government. Mr Michael Ntui told TNN in an interview that some youths would have preferred someone from Akamkpa as running mate to Onor because under the present arrangement, Akamkpa would not be having any representation either in the National Assembly or in an elective position at the state level.
