Cross River PDP Primaries: Petitions Trail Mike Etaba, Ogbor Ogbor Victories

By Sylvia Etta

Documents in possesion of CrossRiverWatch indicate that some members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in Cross River State who lost out in the just concluded primaries are not ready to throw in the towel without a fight back.

The victory of Mr. Ogbor Ogbor as the party’s flagbearer in Biase State Constituency is been challenged in a petition to the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Calabar alleging that Mr. Ogbor Ogbor who until now was a Supervisory Councilor in Biase local government area, did not resign from his position as stipulated by the electoral law and has continued to draw salaries from the council up till last October.

The petitioner also alleged that Mr. Ogbor Ogbor also did not stop collecting salaries from the West African Peoples Institute, WAPI in Calabar where he was a teacher before his foray into politics.

Our source in INEC confirmed that they have received a petition against Mr. Ogbor and are investigating the matters contained therein.

In a related development, Onyebeke and Associates, solicitors to one Obi Steven who claims to be a card carrying member of PDP, in a petition to the state governor, Senator Liyel Imoke and copied to the Director of the Department of State Security, DSS and the national chairman of the PDP, has asked the party and the governor to invite Mr. Mike Etaba who won the Obubra/Etung Federal Constituency ticket to reconcile the inconsistency in the documents he presented to the 21 member Obubra/Etung PDP causus screening panel and the ones he presented to INEC.

According to the petitioner, “On the 21st of October 2014 at Jorany Hotels, Calabar, Mr. Mike Etaba tendered before a 21 member panel mandated by the Obubra/Etung caucuses of the PDP to select, prune down and screen would be aspirants to partake in the primaries which held on the 6th of December, forged documents including: 1. B.Sc certificate from the University of Calabar. 2. NYSC exemption certificate.”

The petitioner accused Mr. Etaba of forging the documents and using them to hoodwink members of the panel who rated him top but when he filed his documents with the INEC, he presented his correct certificate which is the SSCE, the only certificate he has.

According to the petitioner, this act contravenes the electoral act and section 66:1, 66:3 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

CrossRiverWatch attempt to reach both Ogbor and Etaba were futile as their phones were not reachable.