C'River: GDA Blasts Depleted PDP Southern Caucus, Defends Ikem
By Ekanem Asuquo
The Grassroots Democratic Alliance (GDA) has launched a blistering attack on the purported Southern Senatorial District Caucus of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), accusing its leaders of betrayal and conspiring to hand the party over to opposition interests.
In a statement signed by GDA Chairman Effiom Bassey and Secretary Ntui Agbor, the group dismissed the Caucus’s rejection of Barrister Venatius Ikem as the work of “desperate politicians who sold their birthrights for a plate of porridge in the last elections and can never again be trusted with the soul of the PDP.”
The GDA stressed that Ikem’s tenure extension followed due process and highlighted his proven track record in public service, contrasting it sharply with the glaring lack of credibility among his detractors.
The Caucus’s push for Barrister Tim Ekawu was branded a “joke” and an “ADC-sponsored impostor” planted to destabilize the PDP. According to GDA, Ekawu, who has served as ADC coordinator in Cross River North, defied directives from the State Working Committee and engaged in anti-party activities.
“Since 1999, Ekawu has been a serial contender, contested and lost every election he entered. He lacks pedigree, support, or the political sagacity to lead even a ward, let alone the PDP in Cross River State,” the statement said.
The GDA accused his promoters of masquerading as PDP members while secretly colluding with the ruling government through ADC platforms.
The statement also branded the caucus as a depleted and desperate group, highlighting the conspicuous absence of mainstream Southern Caucus leaders, including former Deputy Governor Effiok Cobham, former National Assembly members Hon. Essien Ayi and Hon. Etta Mbora, and all six local government PDP chairmen.
The Grassroots Democratic Alliance described the so-called caucus as “a gathering of a drowning cartel surviving on political horse trading whose time has expired.”
“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,” GDA warned.
The group concluded by insisting that the PDP’s future cannot be entrusted to those who betrayed the party and abandoned their duty to strengthen it as a credible opposition.
