2023: Cross River Central APC Leaders Ditch Zoning For Winning Strategy

March 05, (THEWILL) – Political leaders in the Central Senatorial District of Cross River State have ditched the extant zoning arrangement in the state.

The leaders, who are drawn from the ruling All Progressives Congress say a winning strategy should be adopted by the state chapter of the party ahead of 2023.

Their position is contained in a Declaration made in Ikom, the commercial nerve centre of the district.

The nine point declaration read in part, “The Central Senatorial District remains the most competitive senatorial district within the politics of APC in Cross River State. Therefore, managing it to reap the maximum benefit of this quality must be guided jealously.

“The forum calls for the opening up of the political space in the party at the state level for the overall interest of the party in order to provide for the credible emergence of candidates that will be generally acceptable to the people. Therefore, the emphasis should be on a winning strategy for the party and not a zoning strategy.

“The forum notes that the Central Senatorial District is the only zone in the state that has not witnessed any wave of defections out of it since the governor’s entry into the APC, unlike the Southern and Northern Senatorial districts. This is largely as a result of the quality of political leadership and followership as well as the strength of the party in the District. Therefore, the leadership of the party is called upon to do everything to support the zone”, the declaration stated.

They agreed to lead a delegation to the Governor and leader of the party to state the position of the zone.

It is still unclear if the governor, who is also the leader of the party in the state will reverse himself as he had earlier zoned the governorship to the South come 2023.