As 2023 general elections draw near, the issue of zoning or return of the governorship to the South senatorial district remains on the front-burner in Cross River State politics and it is likely to determine the next governor.
Other are Effiom Edet of Action Peoples Party (APP); Obi Ogar, Labour Party (LP); Solomon Patrick Henry, National Rescue Movement (NRM); Usani Uguru Usani, People’s Redemption Party (PRP); and Coco-Bassey Joseph of the Young Progressives Party (YPP).
Apart from candidates of APC, PDP and PRP, the rest are greenhorns. APC’s Otu is a former member House of Representatives and now senator; Onor of PDP, a Professor of History, former Etung Local Government chairman and former chairman of Local Government Service Commission; while the PRP’s Usani, a former minister of Niger Delta Affairs, has contested the governorship race before and lost.
Most of the electorate may vote for candidates based on their pedigree and where they come from; and it is likely that the contest will be reminiscent of what happened in 1999 and 2003, when no party had total control of the state. Both PDP and the defunct All Peoples Party (APP) operated on almost equal strength. The same scenario is likely play out next year, as APC and PDP now operate shoulder-to-shoulder.
This is made possible because Governor Ben Ayade, along with with a large number of his supporters and appointees decamped from the PDP to APC in 2020. The power of incumbency is expected to work in favour of Otu, popularly known as Sweet Prince, even though some electorate believe that economic hardship under the APC-led does not recommend the party for a reward.
But Otu, who is acknowledged for his generosity and performance as a senator, is widely loved by the people. Besides, he is seen as a man with distinct personality cut out to move the state forward.
PDP, on the other hand, is buoyed by the moral support from the Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike. In addition, its candidate, Onor, popularly known as Caterpillar, is a great orator and is expected to deploy that maximally to his favour.
An APC stalwart in the state, Mr. Charles Eko, said next year’s race will be a battle of wits, adding that if the PDP wins, it will mean that the South’s governorship ambition has been defeated and will be easy for the Central and North to gang up against it in future, a development that will not augur well for peaceful coexistence, which zoning has brought about, either by an arrangement or nature.
