From Judex Okoro, Calabar
Members of the Cross River State PDP caucus of the National Assembly have stated that all defectors to APC would be brought back after the congress.
Addressing delegates at the state congress held at Event Centre located at Parliamentary Extension Calabar on Saturday, the NASS members said Cross River had always been a PDP state until State Governor Ben Ayade defected to APC on Thursday, May 20. They however vowed that the party would recover the governorship in 2023.
Sen Gershom Bassey, representing South Senatorial district, said they are restrategising towards 2023 and are optimistic the PDP would win back the state.
‘2023 is a PDP year and they are working towards clinching all the seats from Abuja to ward levels. Nigerians are tired of APC and are determined to vote them out,’ he said.
‘For Cross River here, it has always been a PDP state and we are positioned to retain it in 2023.’
Commending the party members for their resilience and commitment to PDP, Sen Sandi Onor, representing Central Senatorial district, said: ‘By the time we are done with the state congress, more confusion would visit the government of Cross River State and APC because we know that those who defected went nowhere.
‘This present APC-led government has been taking bad advice and misleading the people. We shall put a final nail on the coffin on who owns the state at the coming Ogoja/ Yala federal constituency by-election. We are also aware that PC is not on the ground in the North and would go all out to rig. But we are ready for them,’ the senator said.
Expressing gratitude for the solidarity during the trial period, Sen Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe, representing North Senatorial district, said: ‘With PDP clinching the Senate seat, APC is a minority in Cross River. And after this congress, we are going to bring back àll those people who left the party because of food on the table.. By 2023 we are going to change the narrative.
‘My success at all levels of contest has proven that you don’t need a governor to win an electiin. All we need is to go home to our various wards and chapters and mobilise our people to come out and vote for the party inn2023. With that we are good to go.’