The State Chapter of the Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC) says it read with rude shock on the National dailies and Social Media the purported call by the State Chapter of the All Progressive Congress (APC) for the resignation or impeachment of the Executive Governor of Cross River State, Sen Prof Ben Ayade.
In a Press Statement in Calabar signed by the State Chairman, Mr Patrick Ali unbehalf of the Council,they described such a call as reckless, unpatriotic and wicked considering the fact that some of the said offences that warranted their call are not peculiar to the state alone.
On Security,It is a known fact that many APC controlled states like Benue, Kaduna, Zamfara, Borno, Imo and yobe are currently faced with different Security challenges, the latest being the killing of over eighty persons by Fulani herdsmen in Benue State.
It is also pertinent to remind our friends that the APC led federal Government under President Muhammadu Buhari is also grapping with insecurity issues which include, renewed pipeline vandalization by Niger Delta Avengers in the South South, Suicide bombings by members of the Boko Haram sect in the North East, gruesome Killing by Fulani Herdsmen especially in the North Central and series of protest by the indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) which has led to several deads in the South East.
Therefore the calling of the Cross River State House of Assembly to Impeach the Governor if he refuses to resign is illogical and unthinkable as it can also be seen as an indirect call by the Party in the state for the impeachment of the President by the National Assembly despite all his concerted effort at repositioning our National Security just like the Governor Ayade is doing.
Furthermore, Communal conflict in Cross River State is as old as the State and the Governor just like his predecessors is doing everything within his powers to bring lasting peace between the various communities. For the upsurge in other Crimes in the state like Kidnapping and Armed Robbery, it could be safe to say that,the ‘CHANGE ‘ philosophy of the APC is what has brought about hardship, thus forcing some people into crime and criminality.
The party also cited the several travels and signing of MOUs which they allege has not seen the light of day right from its inception. It is a known fact that, Signing of Memorandum of understanding are like planted seeds and will always take some time before its germinate if not so,Nigerians could have started reaping the benefit of the several MOUs that have been signed by President Buhari with different countries recent of which was with the Chinese government.
APC Cross River also listed as one of Governor Ayade’s crime, the venturing to execute project that are exclusively in the purview of the federal Government like the deap Seaport, Super Highway, establishment of Green Police and homeland Security among others. Let us remind our dear brothers that, the very first State that had the privilege to host the president in in an official visit since he was elected was Cross River to personally perform the groundbreaking ceremony of the Super Highway. We therefore wonder why the president who is from far away Katsina will embrace such a problem by giving it a knot and people who are suppose to be direct beneficiaries of the project when concluded will not. It must be abundantly clear to the party that Cross River State is not the only state in the federation venturing into such projects and it is only the federal Government that reserves the right to approve or disapprove such proposals from state.
Challenging any government policy or programme it considers Anti People or unconstitutional in a competent court of law would have been more Honourable rather than displaying their ignorance in the pages of Newspapers and social media all in a bit to discredit the Governor.
Cross River State is greater than any party or individual. Let us keep aside malice, hatred, party politics and ethnicity and join hands and hearts with the Governor to deliver on his campaign promises which promises to impact positively on our people.
Dear Comrades, we admonish you to be solutions pro viders instead of avalanche of problems to our dear state. If we must criticise, we must do so and come out with recommendations as failure to do so, only makes us arm chair critics. We are all partners in the development process of our dear State. Unwarranted impeachment and resignation calls is counter productive and It is only a Clog in the will of progress of our dear state.