The Director General of the Caterpillar Movement, Chief Joe Bisong has statedtstated zoning, as it concerns the Governorship, has never been practised in our dear state and is clearly not part of our political history.
The DG made this assertion in Press Release and made available to TheLumineNews.
The release reads in full:
CATERPILLAR MOVEMENT
PRESS RELEASE
OUR POSITION ON THE 2023 GOVERNORSHIP ELECTION IN CROSS RIVER STATE
Over the past one year, the public space of both electronic and print media has been saturated with seemingly unending discussions, arguments and submissions on the topic of Zoning with regards to which senatorial district should produce the elected Governor of Cross River State, come 2023.
The Caterpillar Movement has been consistent in its incontrovertibleassertion that zoning, as it concerns the Governorship, has never been practised in our dear state and is clearly not part of our political history thus far. To that extent, let us for the umpteenth time state, that zoning as currently canvassed,is clearly a devious attempt to disenfranchise eligible aspirants from genuine and healthy competition for the highest office in the land. Even more, it is trite that the constitutional and inalienable right to contest or be voted for in any election, so long as such an aspirant is qualified within the templates of the Nigerian Constitution, is guaranteed. Accordingly, nobody can zone out the right of another person and in this particular regard of the cross River situation,it remains so, whether viewed from the prism of the law or from the perspective of our political history as a people. This explains why the zoning argument could not have been sustained and has indeed,for all practical purposes, died. Our conclusion therefore ,is that even the ghost of the issue of zoning of Governorship in cross river state has since been laid to rest.
Accordingly, the Caterpillar Movement urges its supporters to forthwith, desist from any arguments relating to zoning of the governorship position, since such matters have crumbled into obsolescence. Conversely, we ask our supporters to instead, channel their intellectual resources in helping to profer solutions on how to redeem the state, moving forward.
The position of our Principal is clear and emphatic. Competence must be emphasized over zoning,especially at this critical period in our political history and all three Senatorial zones have a fair share of competent men and women that Cross Riverians can choose from to lead them. Let the ultimate choice be that of the people and let all who are interested in leading the state, hit the ground and canvass the support of our people across the three senatorial zones.
Our principal,
Senator Sandy Onor has indeed just recently concluded a tour of the state with resounding success and huge acceptance across the three Senatorial zones and it is our belief that we shall not only clinch the party ticket but shall ultimately emerge victorious at the general elections, come 2023 through the overwhelming support of the people and the special grace of God.
Let us at this juncture, state categorically,that the attempt to browbeat our Principal,Professor Sandy Onor from contesting the Governorship election, simply based on the concept of geo-ethnicity was untenable ab initio. For someone who spent the best part of his youth working for the unity of the state by supporting candidates from the south in the persons of Prof Eyo Etim Nyong and Mr Donald Duke,to the extent where the latter emerged Governor; this new and pernicious wave of geo-ethnicity is to say the least,deeply regrettable and worrisome.
What our state requires now is a man of courage,
confidence and humility who understands the history,culture and geography of our state; a man with the right intellect and experience; a man tested and proven enough to speak and act for all of cross river state without the odious emphasis on a single geo-political zone. Put differently, this is the time when our commonalities rather than our divisions ought to be emphasized. Our state,before our own eyes, is fast sliding into the abyss and this therefore, can not be the time to play to the gallery with provocative geo-ethnic sensibilities.
We thank our teeming supporters across the state for their unflinching encouragement even as we beseech more well- meaning Cross Riverians to join us in this quest to restore our floundering State to its former heights of both Regional and National Pre-eminence. Infact,our dream is to take our state to higher levels of inclusiveness,productivity, peace,progress and development.
Once again, Happy New Year and May God bless us all.
Joe Obi Bisong ( Hon. Chief)
Director General
Caterpillar movement
