By Jonathan Ugbal
On Sunday, March 2nd 2025, several bigwigs of the All Progressives Congress, APC gathered at the Landmark Hotel in Ogoja local government area to hold the Central Working Committee interactive meeting of the Northern Cross River Coalition, NORTHCCO or NORTHCCO 2.0 as some now refer to it in what has been described as some as an early preparation for the 2027 polls.
NORTHCCO, as it is now, began with a gathering of like minds in December 2024 in what the coalition now refers to as the “End of Year Gathering,” EYG where several decisions were made that led to the formation of the governance structure of the coalition.
Historical Perspective
This is not the first time NORTHCCO is existing. In 2010, specifically in September, while the People’s Democratic Party, PDP held sway at the federal and State level, political bigwigs, greenhorns and others gathered, to project a united front from northern Cross River to endorse Governor Liyel Imoke for a second term with the condition that the next Governor will emerge from the senatorial district.
That was achieved as the February 25th, 2012 elections saw Mr. Imoke win by a landslide. A rerun even made the margin wider. Since then, some of the leaders of that coalition, went on to hold elective public offices; Senator Benedict Ayade, Senator Jarigbe Agom and Rt. Hon. Legor Idagbo. While Messrs Ayade and Idagbo are currently not holding elective offices, Mr. Agom is the Senator representing the zone at the 10th National Assembly.
This perspective was echoed by Mr. Idagbo, who stated that; “The movement in the northern senatorial district of Cross River State has always resonated and defined politicking. When our former Governor, Senator Liyel Imoke was to run for a second term, we came together as a people of northern senatorial district and formed a coalition for Liyel. But, our coalition for Liyel was predicated on the fact that no son or daughter from the northern Senatorial District will contest against Liyel Imoke in the next election.”
He added that NORTHCCO 1.0 was not the first too as the Atam Congress predated that with people of northern Cross River extraction contesting for Governorship which made the possibility of Governorship coming from the north seem like an illusion.
“It got so bad that, so much so, that Governorship coming to the north was almost an illusion because people felt that we in the north wanted to take it by ourselves, and it is impossible to take the State by yourself without cooperation from other senatorial districts,” Mr. Idagbo said, adding that the condition for their support was not mere sycophancy.
“When we did that, we put a caveat, that the condition for our support, because politics has gone beyond sycophancy now, the condition that he will hand over power to the northern senatorial district at the end of his second term. He embraced our solidarity, he embraced our endorsement, and he made a commitment to hand over power to the north. True to himself, Liyel Imoke kept his word,” he said.
The Current NORTHCCO Of The APC
15 years later, the current NORTHCCO, while under the umbrella of the APC, shares a similar position with the one that existed a decade and half earlier, with speakers identifying political patronage as a key issue in the economic and sociocultural development of the senatorial district. They all harped on the need for a unified approach toward the development of the Northern senatorial district.
“If we look back, in those days, the dictates of the Politics of Cross River State, even the then South Eastern State, came from this zone. We cannot lose that. This is the reason why I say history has a way of repeating itself. History has beckoned on all of us who are seated down here today to come up and not to allow the struggles of our heroes past, to be in vain. That is the origin of Northern Cross River Coalition,” Ntufam Fidelis Ugbo, a veteran administrator, economist and lawyer, said while setting the tone for the conversation anchored by the Vice Chairman of Bekwarra Council, Honorable Egbung Odama.
However, the dynamics at play changed in May 2021, when the then Governor, Ben Ayade, dumped the PDP for APC alongside four-fifths of the members of the House of Assembly and two out of the seven members of the House of Representatives who were in PDP.
The State’s political coloration has since changed, with the PDP securing only three federal and four state legislative seats at the 2023 general elections while the APC got the guber, seven federal and 19 state legislative seats with Labor Party clinching one federal and one state legislative seat.
However, all, excluding the three federal lawmakers from northern senatorial district have since defected to the APC.
Governance Structure
NORTHCCO has a board of trustees, led by Ntufam Fidelis Ugbo. It is the highest decision-making body of the coalition. This is followed by the Central Working Committee, led by Rt. Hon. Legor Idagbo and then the Director General, Chief Martins Orim, who oversees the different directorates. Also, High Chief Higgins Peters will serve as Leader of the coalition.
A motion was moved by Charles Omang Esq., the member representing Bekwarra in the State House of Assembly, to adopt the governance structure. This was seconded by Engr. Thomas Aruku, the member representing Ogoja.
Membership Of NORTHCCO
Mr. Ugbo cleared the air on the membership of NORTHCCO. He averred that; “It is not an all-party affair. We are meeting under the aegis of the All Progressives Congress, and we believe we are working together with the party, so that we can mobilize our people adequately to face what is ahead of us. This is not to share palliatives, but to put a structure that we meet occasionally so that other people will take us more seriously.”
NORTHCCO Not A Vehicle For Aspirations – CWC
In his remarks, the Chairman of the CWC, acknowledged suspicions that the coalition is a vehicle for the ambitions of some.
“The tension was serious, suspicions were serious. People were not understanding where we were coming from. Some people that called me, I kept reassuring them, it is for our collective good as a people. I want to address what the white man calls the elephant in the room; Northern Cross River Coalition is not the platform for anybody’s personal aspiration,” Mr. Idagbo said.
NORTHCCO 2.0 And Unity – One North, One Love
Speaker after speaker, from Chief Peter Ojie to Chief Tony Undiandeye, Professor Stephen Odey, Chairman of Obanliku Council Area, Hon. Sunny Ayang and others who took turns to speak, kept harping on the need for unity of purpose, inclusivity in the governance structure and wider consultation.
Their sentiments were reechoed by Mr. Idagbo, who posited that the Back to South agenda remains a brainchild of the northern senatorial district.
“Even when some people felt that they had all the money, all the connection, and that they could do what they wanted and candidates sprang up from other senatorial districts, the back to south mandate was born by the people of northern Cross River State, endorsed by God, and it came to pass.
“Now, we are looking at the politics. The time has not come to make express statements. But when the time comes, the North will speak and that statement will dictate the politics of Cross River. But, in order to make a profound statement, we need to put ourselves together. We need to come together as a people.
“The last elections were not so pleasant for us as a party. Certain dynamics, which will get to the bottom of, as the committees will do their work. This is the time we need to build, brick by brick, step by step, assess what went wrong, make repairs, reconcile,” he said.
Reiterating this, Mr. Orim, who served as Chief of Staff to Governor Ben Ayade throughout his tenure, while announcing the governance structure of NORTHCCO, averred that; “Unfortunately, the last time we went out, we had a bad day, a bad season that has kept us a little behind, politically. Whether you like it or not, some people might be tempted to say we can do this without NORTHCCO. We are here today to put ourselves together and ask ourselves some pertinent questions like, what went wrong? Why are we where we are?”
Continuing, he said; “It is for the unity of the north. Unity for development. Development to foster economic emancipation for people of the north.”
Ogoja State And Other Agreements
NORTHCCO also endorsed the movement for the creation of Ogoja State, endorsed Governor Bassey Otu and his deputy for a second term, and directed the conduct of a needs assessment of the district to present as a united front. These and many others are included in the communique issued at the end of the meeting.
Read the Communique below…
The Communique
1. The leaders and stakeholders commended and appreciated the End of Year Gathering (EYG) held in December, which is part of galvanizing the people for social interaction and peaceful co-existence. The Coalition therefore adopts the resolutions at the EYG and resolved to build further on the vision.
2. The Coalition appreciated the APC, as a party, for the sacrifices made for the unity of Northern Cross River State. The Coalition initiators/organizers encouraged all the party organs and party faithful in the senatorial district to continue to forge a collaborative, united and common front for the common good.
3. The Coalition expressed its satisfaction with the developmental strides and infrastructural transformation going in the senatorial district under the People First administration of His Excellency, Apostle Prince Bassey Edet Otu. Accordingly, the Coalition unanimously passed a Vote of Confidence on the Governor and his Deputy for the good work that they are doing and promised to make a follow-up statement in due course.
4. The various administrative organs of the Coalition inaugurated are urged to note that their activities and responsibilities are not meant to replace the established party organs but to complement and collaborate. The two are expected to work together.
5. The coalition thanked the leaders and stakeholders for their logistics support to host the inaugural meeting and called for greater support as and when necessary to continue to sustain the activities of the coalition.
6. The Coalition fully supports the agitation for the creation of Ogoja State and believes that if actualized, it will bring about rapid development of both Cross River and the proposed State. The Coalition expressed its readiness to make contributions as and when necessary and work with the group to develop an Articulated Economic Viability Blueprint for the proposed State.
7. The Coalition, in its desire to harmonize the critical developmental needs of the senatorial district, for presentation to government, have formally appointed a critical development needs assessment committee which is expected to present its report at the next congress.
8. The general congress of the Coalition is scheduled to hold during the Easter break period, on a date to be communicated, to receive, deliberate, and adopt reports from the various committees set up as well as from the administrative organ.
The Coalition thanked all those who made the sacrifice to attend the inaugural meeting and urged all party men and women from the senatorial district to come together under the umbrella in the spirit of a united Northern Senatorial District and a stronger APC as a party.
The communique is issued at Ogoja, this 2nd day of March 2025
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