THE CROSS RIVER SOUTH SENATORIAL ELECTION: BATTLE OF GLADIATORS Chief Gershom Bassey. Senator Prince Bassey Otu. Ntufam Ekpo Okon. These are the main gladiators in the primaries for the senatorial election of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, in the Cross River South Senatorial District. These are political heavyweights in their own rights and their entrance into the race for the upper chamber of the National Assembly may turn out to be one of the major points of excitement in the build up to the 2015 elections. The election promises to be nothing short of an upset if any of the contenders to the senatorial seat on the platform of the ruling PDP in the State picks the party ticket for the polls coming up in 2015. Chief Gershom Bassey is one of the trio (the others being Governor Imoke and Mr. Donald Duke) that lay the foundation of the new Cross River State. Ntufam Ekpo Okon is the immediate past State Chairman of the PDP. Prince Bassey Otu is the incumbent senator of the district. The three contenders described by a source as “the leading lights” of the Southern Senatorial District politics, are set to re-enact a very healthy competition in a battle of wits and intrigues. However, there are fears that if this contest is not well-managed by the leadership of the State party, it could cause some disaffection that may possibly result in a backlash capable of tearing the party in the zone apart. The three contenders, the source said, have all the necessary ingredients including the finances to prosecute their election project. This would make the contest, one of the fiercest within the party. Chief Bassey who has sat on the board of the State Water Board Limited as its Chairman since 1999 was originally speculated to succeed Imoke but may have had a volte face on a succession plan in the coming 2015 election to complete a cycle of governorship among his two friends, Duke and Imoke, due to the political exigency of the Northern Senatorial District producing the Governor in 2015. A source reliably told Politics Herald that the governor, Senator Imoke, has worked out an arrangement that will give his friend, Chief Bassey, a good chance to run for the senatorial seat as compensation for conceding his governorship bid to the North. On the other hand, Ntufam Okon may have forayed into the senatorial bid backed up by his long-standing friend and political associate, the state deputy governor, Barr. Efiok Cobham to menancing threat that Prince Otu had poses to the two of them in their calculation to sustain their grip on political power in the State and their local government, Odukpani, where the three of them, coincidentally, hail from. This political rivalry that pitches the duo of Okon and Cobham on one side and the incumbent senator, Prince Otu, on the other, Politics Herald learnt, arose when the later nursed an ambition for the senate seat in 2011 signaling a move to truncate a well-designed plan by Okon to contest in 2015 after serving as the Party State Chairman. The dynamics of political intrigues and maneuvering manipulated and engineered by Otu and his powerful co-travellers of power brokers stalled Ntufam Okon’s plan to succeed himself as the State chairman and subsequently pushed him out of the power equation in the State and obviously into a political precipice. The scenario that is playing out now is that Ntufam Okon is poised to take his pound of flesh from Prince Otu by wrestling the senate seat from him as a result of the latter’s role in edging him out of power as State Party chairman. But unfolding developments with Chief Gershom Bassey’s entrance into the race has altered the equation and throws up a defining moment for the political rivalry in the Southern Senatorial district. Even though pundits view the contest between the three powerful stakeholders as a “battle royale”, many are calling for “cautious treading” by the party leadership in handling the situation in order not to have a negative effect on the party in the south. Supporters of the three senatorial aspirants are pushing the their bids further and seem to be gearing for the worst, especially as there are sensuous belief that there may not be a level playing field in the contest to the senate seat. One of the supporters and top party chieftain who pleaded anonymity summed up: “Let’s not forget too quickly the dramatic up set in the last senatorial election where the unexpected happened.” As it is now, it is difficult to predict the outcome of the race.
Posted on: Thu, 25 Sep 2014 16:19:45 +0000
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