By Nsan Ndoma-Neji, Calabar
Thousands of youths in Calabar South, Bakassi and Akpabuyo local government areas of Cross River State on Thursday in Calabar took to the streets with placards protesting against the choice of a former aspirant for Akpabuyo/Bakassi/Calaba South federal constituency, Emana Ambrose, as the deputy governorship candidate of the Propels Democratic Party, PDP, in the 2023 general elwction.
Ms Ambrose had lost the House of Representives’ ticket at the just concluded PDP primaries in Cross River.
The protesters called on stakeholders of the PDP to give free hands to the member representing the constituency at the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Essien Ayi and other stakeholders in the federal constituency to produce a woman who would serve as running mate to Senator Prof. Sandy Onor, who is the PDP governorship candidate in Cross River for the 2023 poll.
At the PDP state party secretariat, where the protesters converged with placards with several inscriptions such as ‘We don’t want Emana Ambrose Amahwe to deputize PDP governorship candidate in the forthcoming governorship elections,’ the protesters said, “All we are asking for is for the leadership of he party to allow the PDP Rep member who again won the primaries, Mr. Essien Ekpeyong Ayi, to choose someone from the constituency to become the running mate to the PDP governorship candidate Sanator Prof Sandy Onor in the forthcoming general elections.”
The protesters who stormed the PDP secretariat at Mary Slessor Avenue, Calabar, chanting songs as if they were going to war, kept chanting, “We want a woman with capacity to join Senator Onor in ensuring that the party emerges victorious in the governorship election of next year.”
The PDP chairman for Ward 9, Edem Oyom, stated that the party ought to do thorough screening of individuals seeking for seat of running mate to Prof. Onor.
He said, “Emana is not popular to help the PDP floor the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the general elections.
“We are being sidelined. If this continues, the party will sink. What the party ought to do is proper screening of those nursing the intention to work as Sandy’s running mate and thereafter pick authentic and an individual who possesses the requisite capacity to act as Prof. Sandy’s running mate.
“We want the position to be given to a woman of proven integrity who is ground.”
Addressing the protesters who came out in hundreds, the Cross River State PDP secretary, Tony Idako, called for calm, assuring the youths that as a party, the leadership has listening ears, promising to take the message to the party chairman, Mr. Venatius Ikem, who was not in the office as at the time the protesters stormed the PDP secretariat to register their demands.
In his reaction to the protest in a telephone discussion with the PDP Rep aspirant, who lost the primaries to the serving PDP Rep member for Bakassi/Akpabuyo/Calabar federal constituency, Emana Ambrose Amahwe stated that she won’t want to join any issue, stressing that she prefers to go about her business than coming to join issues with any one.
