By Ed Malik, A / August 25, 2022 1.36 PM
ed@ddnewsonline.com
Reclaim Cross River (RCR), a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) support group that’s rooting for an Atiku presidency in 2023, has vowed to reclaim Cross River State from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), saying that the party is an unfortunate aberration in the state that should not be revived.
The RCR Founder, John George stated that it is a big illusion for anyone to think that because Governor Ben Ayade defected to APC for his own selfish reasons automatically translates to electoral fortunes for APC.
He stated that the mission of RCR is to ensure that PDP clinches all elected posts in the state; such as the Governor, Senators, House of Representatives, State Assembly members and nationally, a PDP President.
In his address during a mass rally in Calabar, the state capital on Thursday, August 25, 2022, he said: “In addition to ensuring that the PDP wins all elective positions from the governorship down the ballot in the state, RCR is also campaigning for our Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar and his running mate, Senator Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa.
The PDP will sweep the polls from the presidency to state assembly elections in Cross River because as we speak, the APC is no longer a factor in the electoral map of the state,” George declared.
“Reclaim Cross River is a child of necessity. Recall that during the tenure of the former governor, Mr. Donald Duke, Cross River was the tourist destination of choice in Nigeria. In fact, visitors came from outside Nigeria to visit the state.
“This legacy was sustained with renewed infrastructure development by Senator Liyel Imoke between 2007 and 2015. Regrettably, all the gains of the Donald Duke and Liyel Imoke administrations have been squandered and reversed by Senator Ben Ayade’s clueless leadership,” George said.
George, who himself is a successful businessman, continued: “Today, Cross River State is only a shell of its old self, a source of derision by all. What the state is laughably known for today is the bombast and highfalutin christening of yearly budgets by the governor, Ayade.
“To make matters worse, the governor took the ill-advised decision to defect to the APC, a party whose calamitous failure in all spheres is spectacular. Talk of birds of a feather flocking together!
“So, our mission is to reclaim and rescue Cross River from the years of the locusts that the Ayade and the APC government represent. With a solid grassroots structure spanning all the polling units where we have Coordinators up to the state level, the Reclaim Cross River campaign is spreading like wildfire. It is this momentum that has sounded the death-knell for APC in the state – the same that will propel PDP to victory in 2023.
“Ordinarily, we wouldn’t bother to campaign for PDP in the state since the staggering failure of the APC has clearly shown the people that the PDP, which performed excellently under Duke and Imoke is the only viable alternative. But we are not leaving anything to chance, especially given that other parties aside from APC which has shut itself out of any reckoning, are also going to be on the ballot.
“In fact, in Cross River State we are not contesting against APC, we are contesting against other political parties.”