by crossriverwatch admin
In what may be the last move to convince pundits that he has given up his desire to be Cross River Governor come 2015, Mr. Gershom Bassey, the Chairman of the Cross River State Water Board Limited has intensified his campaign to be the PDP standard bearer in the 2015 election to represent the Southern Senatorial District in the Senate.
It will be recalled that Mr. Gershom Bassey until recently had nursed the ambition to take over from Governor Imoke in the spirit of the so called “Lagos Accord” which designated former governor Duke, Imoke and Gershom as Cross River’s three wise men who were supposed to rule the state for twenty four years consecutively.
The ruling party in the state however decided to zone the governorship to the northern senatorial district which has not filled the position before, effectively shutting out Mr. Bassey who is from the Southern Senatorial District like Duke the former governor while Imoke hails from the Central.
But the zoning did not go down well with Mr. Bassey and his supporters who until recently kept campaigning for him to contest for the position. Governor Imoke in a bid to placate him is now willing to sacrifice the second term desire of the incumbent Senator Bassey Otu in favor of Mr. Gershom sparking speculations that Senator Otu is planning to leave the party and join the opposition.
Though pockets of his governorship posters are seen around Calabar and environs, Mr. Bassey, popularly called Obong Ekpe, visited the PDP Caucuses of Odukpani, Biase and Calabar Municipality, three out of the seven local government areas that constitute the Southern Senatorial District on Thursday and sought for their support to actualize his ambition.
Speaking at the Biase Caucus chaired by Professor Ivara Esu, Mr Bassey said he was the Convener of the PDP in Cross River State in 1999 and his role in the journey of the party since its inception is well known and should therefore be given the chance to advance the cause of the senatorial district and the state at the national assembly in 2015.
“I am the Convener of PDP in Cross River State and today I come before you to seek tour support as I seek to represent you in the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. All of you know me and I know all of you. We have been together, played together, laughed together, cried together, played politics together and raised the bar together and whatever we have done, we have done for the good of the state”.
He said in 1999 when, Duke and Imoke came into the political scene, there were a lot of stories and his role was well known but for the interest of justice, he agreed to the idea that the governorship of the state should be moved to the Northern Senatorial District.
“My Part in that story is a part everybody knows; I will not talk much on that part but today I have come to seek your support to represent the Southern Senatorial District in the Senate and I know I offer a unique ability to represent you more than anyone else seeking this office”.
He said Nigeria with a population of 160 million people and blessed with enormous resources has a lot to offer everyone and Cross River State with just 3.4 million populations is a very small percentage of the country’s population and should therefore consistently send its best to Abuja to ensure effective representation.
“What we have done in the State at the federal level is to send a crack team to represent us and that crack team has done well. However, going into 2015, we need a fresh and new direction so we have to infuse that crack team with a new set of people and I am offering myself to play that role”
Responding, the Chairman of the Biase Caucus, Professor Ivara Esu said a couple of aspirants seeking positions in the national assembly have approached them for support and prayed God to bless all his efforts as he goes about his campaign and hopefully, he will actualize his heart desire.
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