A controversy has erupted within Cross River State’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) surrounding the potential second term of Barrister Venatius Ikem as the state party chairman. The Grassroots Democratic Alliance (GDA) has strongly defended Ikem’s candidacy, accusing the Southern Senatorial District Caucus of being politically compromised.
GDA chairman Effiom Bassey and secretary Ntui Agbor issued a statement dismissing the caucus’s opposition as “the work of desperate politicians who sold their birth rights for a plate of porridge in the last elections.” They accused the group of colluding with the ruling government through the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
The grassroots group described the caucus’s candidate, Ekawu, as an “ADC-sponsored impostor” with a track record of election losses, questioning his suitability to lead the PDP in Cross River. They labelled the caucus “a gathering of a drowning cartel surviving on political horse trading whose time has expired.”
Senator Gershom Bassey, a leading PDP figure, reportedly distanced himself from a purported endorsement of a consensus candidate from the Southern Senatorial District, citing concerns over the legitimacy of the process.
GDA insisted, “This was a meeting of PDP members who have since declared for ADC. They are no longer part of the party and have isolated themselves from legitimate structures.” The group warned that the PDP’s future cannot be entrusted to those who have betrayed the party and abandoned efforts to strengthen it as a credible opposition.
