Zoning : C'River North APC To Boycott Party Activities

Members of the All Progressive Congress, APC from the Northern Senatorial District of Cross River State have threatened to boycott party activities ahead of 2019 if the zoning crisis which is brewing in the party is not addressed.

This was part of the resolution taken at the end of stakeholders meeting conveyed on Sunday in Ogoja by the Vice Chairman (North) of the party, Dr. Valentine Eneji.

Eneji while reading the resolutions adopted to the stakeholders argued that despite the fact that the zone has not been treated fairly in terms of appointment by the federal government, they have remained committed to the peace and progress of the party but will resist any plot to take the governorship ticket from them.

He attributed the battle the party is facing in retaining Osun governorship to what he described as "abuse of zoning" agreement.

According to him "We have agreed that if the governorship ticket which all of us sat and agreed in 2014 to zone to the north is taken from us, we will boycott party activities as we prepare for the 2019 general election.

"Look at what's happening in Osun governorship election? It's embarrassing that APC as a ruling party in the state is struggling to retain the state. If the ticket was zoned to Osun West as it ought to be, the election would have been competitive in all the senatorial districts not this situation where the entire Osun West was donated to PDP because of the unwillingness of the party to respect zoning.

"Akwa Ibom state have zoned their governorship ticket formally to Eket Senatorial district where it was zoned in 2014. Many of the states have done same. Why then is the case of Cross River different?".

He maintained that "We have been in opposition for about 20 years now. We have a clear chance of winning the state now. So all relevant organs of the party must consider all factors to ensure that we don't just contest the election but contest to win".

The stakeholders also denied ever endorsing any aspirant from other zones as rumoured saying that that wouldn't have been possible as the north remain the only senatorial district to produce the next APC governorship candidate.