by crossriverwatch admin
The minority leader of the Cross River State House of Assembly, Hon. Alex Irek has warned that if those angling to become leaders of the newly registered All Progessives Congress, APC in the State do not thread softly, the party may lose the opportunity of taking over power from the ruling PDP in 2015.
Hon. Irek, the lone opposition lawmaker in the House elected under the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria ACN advised the former state chairmen of the three parties that have merged; ANPP, CPC and ACN to be prepared to relinquish their former positions and allow the party to look for a new and more dynamic, charismatic and pragmatic leadership that will be able to lead the opposition to victory in the elections and give the people of Cross River a real alternative.
He told CrossRiverWatch that, “APC has come to stay in Cross River but there has been a lot of infighting. I am the only elected member of the party in the state as it is now and that automatically makes me a member of the exco and that is very clear and I remain neutral in all the wrangling in the party. I am appealing to all APC members to unite and know that this is not the time to fight for positions. It is a time to consolidate.
“People are anxious and prepared for change. We have to present that alternative. There are some people who are struggling to lead the party now that if they eventually emerge, people will run away from the party. My advice is for the former Chairmen of the three parties that merged to allow us find a new, dynamic, pragmatic and charismatic leader for the party who will lead the party and command the respect and loyalty of everyone”.
Reports that a leadership tussle has created a deep gulf amongst members of the new party in the State have been consistently dispelled by some of the party chieftains.
Dispelling the insinuation, former state chairman of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Comrade Martins Bisong, told the press that members are all together with the leaders of the three former parties that merged into one.
Media reports quoted Bisong to have said, “I do not want anybody to create the impression that the party is divided from the onset. That is not true. There cannot be a vacuum. The leaders of the three merging parties, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), ANPP and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) have not been debriefed. Having achieved this feat this is the new structure that should be, until further notice. The only recognized structure by the APC is the structures of the former parties that have merged.”
He said those calling meetings outside the leadership structures of the inherited parties are doing so as individuals and not as party leaders.
“I don’t have any quarrel with them; they have the right to meet. They are all politicians, after all, and as politicians, if you have the resources to call people you can call them, but it should not be in the name of APC because they do not have the mandate to do so,” Bisong said.
He stated that those attempting to balkanize the new party were sponsored by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to hijack the party.
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