Two aspirants claim that they are the APC's governorship candidate in Cross River State

TROUBLE is brewing within the Cross River State chapter of the All progressives Congress (APC) as two candidates are both claiming they are the bonafide and legitimate flagbearer elected to stand in the March 3 gubernatorial elections.

With Nigeria due to hold presidential elections on February 16 and governorship polls on March 3, there is pandemonium in Cross River State as both Senator John Owan Enoh and Pastor Usani Uguru Usani claim they are the legitimate APC gubernatorial candidate. Neither is willing to back down for the other, despite Sir John Ochala, the acting chairman of the state APC chapter saying that Senator Enoh is their recognised candidate.

Apparently, Senator Enoh was given the party’s flag and declared a governorship candidate of the party during the APC zonal rally in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State. However, Pastor Usani is claiming that he has taken legal action against the party and is still in the race as according to him, the court has not disposed of the matter.

However, Sir Ochala said: “Our attention has been drawn to trending media reports credited to the honourable minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Pastor Usani Uguru Usani whereby he parades himself as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in Cross River State. We wish to use this medium to make some clarifications which further counters those misgivings by the minister

“All the institutions relevant to the emergence of candidates including the Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec), the national secretariat of our party and even the law enforcement agencies have the name of Senator John Owan Enoh as the party’s governorship candidate in Cross River State. That in a matter instituted by Pastor Usani Usani regarding the issue of candidacy, a federal high court in Abuja presided over by Justice Olukayode Adeniyi delivered judgment rejecting his prayers to be made the party’s candidate.

“In fact, the court verdict derecognised him as having taken part in the process of party primary elections that led to the emergence of candidates. This latest attempt by the minister to impose himself on the gullible public, in our consideration confirms our earlier belief that Pastor Usani was working had to actualise another agenda distracting APC from focusing on elections victory.

“Otherwise why would Pastor Usani resort to self-help even with the window of opportunity provided by the law for him to ventilate his grievances and get justice, which we know he’ll never get.  We, therefore, warn for the umpteenth time that Pastor Usani should desist from this criminal act of impersonation since he is not our governorship candidate."

He added that actions of the minister is capable of robbing the party of its chances of victory in the forthcoming polls and urged the presidency to call Pastor Usani to order to avoid the aftermath of such ugly situation. Sir Ochala urged the general public to disregard the antics of the minister and only seek and get clarifications from relevant stakeholders as regards the status of the APC governorship candidate Senator Enoh.

However, Mens Ikpeme, Pastor Usani's publicity secretary, said: “We don’t have acting chairman in the APC, our chairman is Nufam Godwin Etim John. Please don’t address any person as such.

“I am talking to you from the point of authority. Pastor Usani Usani is our governorship candidate and when Senator John Owan Enoh was given the party’s flag in Uyo, it was a ceremonial presentation but Pastor Usani got the ticket."