By Obeten Godfrey
A factional guber candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Cross River State for the 2019 polls, Senator John Owan-Enoh has appealed to the Minister of Niger Delta, Pastor Usani Usani and his supporters to sheathe their sword and embrace peace in the overall interest of the party and the State.
Owan-Enoh and Usani are currently embroiled in a fight on who is the authentic guber candidate of the party even though the National Working Committee of the part forwarded Mr. Owan-Enoh’s name to the Independent National Electoral Commission and presented the party’s flag to him last Decemeber.
And, The Nation Newspapers reports that Mr. Owan-Enoh in a statement signed by him and issued Wednesday in Calabar outlined the issues trashed by a recent High Court judgment and called on Usani and his supporters to bury the hatchet between both factions.
The statement read: “Sequel to the Monday January 7, 2019 declaration by a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Apo, Abuja, presided over by Justice Olukayode Adeniyi rejecting the claim by the Niger Delta Affairs Minister, Pastor Usani Uguru Usani to being the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in our dear State, Cross River, I hereby heartily invite Pastor Usani and his supporters to the larger APC fold in the state.
“Justice Adeniyi who delivered judgment on Usani vs APC, INEC & Owan-Enoh, actually dismissed the suit and asserted that:
1. Usani’s case was found to be full of contradictory claims and forgeries.
2. Usani’s affidavit in support of originating summons was unreliable.
3. Usani was found not to be an aspirant and his case not justiciable in tandem with the laws of the country.
4. That Etim John’s supervised primary was illegal and contrary to the party’s constitution and guidelines for primaries.
“In the light of the above, the court dismissed Usani’s claim to be declared the governorship candidate and consequently upheld me as the APC governorship standard bearer in Cross River State.
“But as a strong believer in the Fabian political philosophy whose underlying assumption advances the principles of democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in democracies rather than revolutionary overthrow, I urge my brother, Pastor Usani and his supporters to sheathe the sword and embrace peace in the overall interest of our party and our state, so that together we can rescue our state from mediocrity and mis-governance.
“I strongly believe that responsible politics all over the world is premised on compromise or give-and-take, without which development would be seen in the dividing line between savagery and barbarism. Politics of civility and enlightenment for which our state is renowned over the years should be uppermost in our minds. Losers should accept their defeat with equanimity and winners share their victory with magnanimity.
“I wish also to appeal to the sensibilities of my esteemed supporters, to eschew bitterness and rancor and embrace Pastor Usani and his supporters as members of the enlarged APC family in the state. This victory is not for me but for our party, APC, for democracy and most essentially, for our dear State which has been rendered prostrate by three and a half years of inept leadership provided by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). Together, we shall form a united front to extricate our State from the stranglehold of oppression, bigotry, poverty, hunger, corruption and underdevelopment. This is not the time for intrigues and subterfuge.
“As members of one party, one family, one manifesto and one symbol, I welcome back Pastor Usani and his supporters to join hands with me and my supporters to provide the required leadership that Cross Riverians are earnestly yearning for. The broom is not only a symbol of cleanliness and integrity, it also symbolizes unity and strength. For, it is quite easy to break a broomstick but quite impossible to break the bundle of brooms. Let us come together and work as a team towards the March 2, 2019 governorship election.Victory awaits us.”
CrossRiverWatch had reported that Usani has said he remains the authentic guber candidate of the APC and took to Facebook to deny speculations that his decision to “exchange pleasantries with” Owan-Enoh at the airport was not an acceptance to work with the Senator but because of the “ethic of civil disposition,” and “nothing more.”
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