C'River APC Stakeholders Meet National Chairman, Insist On NWL Position
By Mark IDRAH
The Cross River State All Progressives Congress APC, has insisted on holding the position of the National Women Leader of the party return back to them.
Some members of the party led by Sen. Florence Ita-Giwa visited the National Chairman of the party, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje on Thursday August 24th, demanding for the position to be returned to the state.
Speaking with journalists after the meeting, the state Chairman of the Party in Cross River, Barr Alphonsus Eba said a letter has been written to the leader of the party ,President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and that they have received assurance from the national chairman that the issues would be amicably resolved.
Eba called on members of the party in the state to remain calm, assuring them of having the position returned to the state.
According to the state Chairman, the state governor ,Sen. Bassey Otu, has been briefed on the situation and he has cut short his holiday and will be returning to the country to help intervene in the matter.
"We the leadership of the Cross River State All Progressives Congress have made our stand known on the purported move by some party chieftains to take away the National Women Leader position from Cross River State to Edo State, we have insisted that the position must be given to us to complete." Said Mr. Alphonsus Eba.
The position of the National Woman Leader was formally occupied by Dr. Betta Edu who's now appointed minister for Humanitarian Affairs by the president, it is right for another woman from Cross River to step in and occupy the position, but was alleged that the National Working Committee of the party has rather given it to someone else from Edo state and these led to a protest from the Cross River APC to the national secretariat on Thursday.
According to Mr. Eba, giving the position to Edo and trying to shortchange Cross River is having a total disregard for article 31.5 of the party's constitution, which is their guiding rules.
The state chairman however noted that, in a civilized democracy aggrieved persons can only channel their grievances through the appropriate quarters, and that is exactly what they have done.
"Today, we have come to the National Chairman to inform him of this infraction and we have also written to Mr President to say that the National Women Leadership position is commonly shared between Cross River and Akwa-Ibom. Edo and Delta presently have a position in the National Working Committee which is the National Publicity Secretary, therefore Cross River shouldn't be shortchanged for Edo." Said Mr. Eba
Mr. Alphonsus Eba said that the National Chairman of the party Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje has asked them to be patient, assuring them that the matter would be resolved.
