By Lauretta Akpan
Leaders of the ruling Peoples Democratic Movement, PDP in Cross River State yesterday met with aspirants and candidates for the 2015 general election under the Party’s umbrella and promised those who lost out in the primaries, appointments to desuade them from decamping.
The meeting which started at 7pm at the Presidential Lodge, Calabar was presided over by the State Deputy Governor, Efiok Cobham and the State PDP Chairman, Ntufam John Okon.
The scanty meeting which had about 80 persons present, most of them aspirants who lost out in the various congresses and primaries that the party conducted recently saw the deputy governor and state party chairman of the party taking turns to encourage the defeated aspirants not to decamp to the opposition but to bare with the ruling party as appointments will be given to some of them even before the expiration of the Imoke administration.
The state chairman hammered on ensuring the party continuous to garner electoral value and ensure that the opposition does not make progress in Cross River state.
The party leadership while promising to call a larger reconciliation meeting informed that yesterday’s meeting was a prelude to the planned reconciliation meeting.
The meeting was ostensibly summoned yesterday both to persuade aggrieved aspirants who were out played in the just concluded primaries and to curry the loyalty of some of the members who are already planning to move to Labour Party along with Senator Bassey Otu, Alex Egbona and others.