Following the victory of the Cross River State governor, Bassey Otu, at the Appeal Court, Lagos State Division, on Wednesday November 22nd, some notable Cross Riverians have commended the governor on his victory and called on the opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and its candidate, Sandy Onor, to sheath their swords and support the state governor in moving Cross River forward.
The appellate court dismissed the case filed by Sandy Onor for lacking in merit and affirmed the decision of the Election Petition Tribunal of September 26th in Calabar, which upheld the election of Otu of the All Progressives Congress APC, and his deputy, Peter Odey.
Speaking in separate interviews with journalists shortly after delivering judgment, the Speaker of the Cross River State House of Assembly, Elvert Ayambem and a former Minister of Culture, Tourism and National Orientation, High Chief Edem Duke, called on the opposition to stop distracting the governor with court cases, as Wednesday’s judgment had reaffirmed the mandate given to the governor by the good people of Cross River State.
They maintained that Cross Riverians deserve a state with a focused governor, ready to reposition the state without any form of distraction.
They further commended the judiciary for being unbiased in its verdict.
Also speaking, the Special Adviser to the state governor on General Duties, Ekpenyong Akiba said, the verdict was victory reaffirmed and that Cross Riverians truly voted for the governor, as he called on the opposition to support the governor.
Meanwhile, the Financial Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party in Cross River State, Chris Edadi, said the party was not satisfied with the ruling of the appellate court and is working with its legal team on the next course of action.
Otu was declared winner of the 2023 governorship poll by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, having polled a total of 258,619 votes winning in 15 of the 18 local governments areas of the state, to defeat his closest rival, Senator Sandy Onor of the PDP, who polled 179,636 votes.
Editor: Ebuwa Omo-Osagie
