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  • There Will Be No Difference Between Ben Ayade And Prince Otu BY JESAM EBRI

    There Will Be No Difference Between Ben Ayade And Prince Otu BY JESAM EBRI

    THERE WILL BE NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BEN AYADE AND PRINCE OTU

    By Jesam Ebri

    It is the reality that species produce their kind without drastic differences. This assertion translates to the fact that the governor’s choice of a successor will follow in his ignoble footprints.

    It is also no longer news that Governor Ben Ayade has succeded in dragging our once beautiful and alluring state several steps backwards in almost all aspects of development, ranging from unfinished projects with outrageous sums spent, reducing governance to comedy skits, and dishing out undeserved and nebulous appointments to all kinds of people.

    Heaps of refuse dumps now define the skyline of our beautiful state capital, defacing our once clean and green state. He has left the citizens reminiscing on the lost glory of Cross River State, while hoping for a better tomorrow which everybody know will never come if the ruling All Progressives Congress remains in power. The people are tired of lies constantly served as meals, an alternative or escape route is now clearly inevitable.

    Governor Ayade himself admitted that he has failed the people in his lamentations in a video where he stated how prepared he was for the state and how it has not ended well as planned. He had cried volumes of tears on that occasion like a repentant sinner but continued the despoilation and rape of the state even after the theatrical weeping.He further lamented on the reality that people still lived in thatch houses five years into office as governor. Thatch Houses regrettably now have more occupants than they were in the first five years of his reign and many more have been erected since then.

    His choice of Prince Bassey Edet Otu is expected to cover up the mess done to the State and the people, to continue with the crass performance and the usual lies about what is not and what cannot be. A replica of the current administration must be rejected. Cross River is almost completely submerged in the lagoon and needs a rescue team to bring it out of the murky waters.

    We cannot entrust our dear state to a man with a godfather like Governor Ben Ayade for another eight years. What legacy will he copy? What footsteps will he follow? The nepotism witnessed in the Ayade years is likely to take a worst turn and in no time, the Back to South mantra will become Back to the Odukpani.

    Senator Sandy Onor is clearly the solution. He is a man of proven capacity in governance and in business. Let’s all go out and vote in Senator Sandy Onor for a new Cross River.

    The opinion expressed in this article is strictly that of the author, JESAM EBRI, and does not represent TheLumineNews or its staff.

  • Jarigbe Agom Receives Certificate Of Return, Dedicates Victory To God

    Jarigbe Agom Receives Certificate Of Return, Dedicates Victory To God

    By Elijah Ugani

    Senator representing northern senatorial district, Sen Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe, received certificate of return as Senator-Elect, for another four years term.

    The senator had earlier today announced that celebration of the certificate of return will hold at the mini stadium at Ogoja, noted that he will celebrate the victory with his people.

    Speaking shortly after receiving the certificate of return, the lawmaker attributed the success of his election to God.

    “God has been at the centre of our journey, it has been God all the way. He only knows the heart of men. God used me to facilitate meaningful projects for my people, and touched their hearts and they came out massively to cast their votes for me.

    “I dedicate this victory to God. It is victory for the great people of Cross River northern senatorial district”.

  • Jarigbe Agom To Celebrate His Certificate Of Return With His People On Thursday 9th March, 2023

    Jarigbe Agom To Celebrate His Certificate Of Return With His People On Thursday 9th March, 2023

    By Elijah Ugani 

    The senator representing Cross River Northern senatorial district who enjoyed massive and unprecedented support during the last national assembly election, Sen Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe, has stated that there will be no celebration of the certificate of return in Abuja.

    The lawmaker noted that “No reception in Abuja, we have to celebrate with our people”

    The release made available to TheLumineNews and signed by Sen Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe reads in full “Celebration of the Certificate of Return for Cross River North Senatorial Seat, slated for Thursday, 9th of March, 2023.

    “Venue: Ogoja Mini Sports Stadium
    Time: 3pm prompt.

    “Note: No Reception in Abuja. We have to celebrate with our People.

    “Sign: Senator Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe, Representing Cross River North.”

  • Cross River Governorship And The Looming Political Tsunami BY ORI OWAN

    Cross River Governorship And The Looming Political Tsunami BY ORI OWAN

    CROSS RIVER GOVERNORSHIP AND THE LOOMING POLITICAL TSUNAMI

    By Ori Owan, Esq

    The forceful retirement of governor Benedict Bengiuoshuye Ayade of Cross River state, last Saturday, after eight tainted years of unprecedented pillaging and policy flip-flops has finally laid to rest the remnants of incumbency in the state and the consequent end of a dark chapter in our shared history. More so, this massive defeat and decapitation of a chief executive officer is enough to shun his anointed godson, whose complicity is glaring in all the kleptocratic practices that have characterized this administration in the past months of electioneering campaigns.

    Interestingly, his imposing opponent, Distinguished Senator Sandy Onor, armed with the people’s affection and love, glitters like a diamond in the sun. Both young and old have resolved to vote for Sandy Onor on Saturday 11th March, in spite of the perceived malignant acrimony and animosity towards him by a few greedy clique of renegades in the Central and Southern hemisphere of the State. For certain shylocks especially in the central Cross River, as long as it is not them, growth and development must be suspended until 2031, when power shall have returned to the central for their selfish gains. What a phantasy!

    However, the mammoth crowds that greeted the campaigns of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) across the state, few weeks ago, has nullified the old arguments of back to South. This is because the ordinary people came out publicly to affirm with passionate conviction that democracy, power and sovereignty belongs to the ordinary people. Thus, reducing governance to zoning against meritocracy and the good wishes of the people, is the height of idiocy. For instance, it was the zoning madness that imposed a leader who colluded with his family and totally kidnapped the commonwealth of Cross River State citizens.

    Sandy Onor’s imminent victory has become more glaring in view of the perceived river of grievance by the ‘Obedient Advocates’ who now feel apparently dissatisfied and shortchanged by the outcome of the presidential election results as announced by INEC. In fact, the current mood of Cross River today, smacks of incredible support for Onor, as the pendulum now clearly swings in favour of the PDP.

    Nonetheless, the Obedients movements has resolved to vote all candidates of the PDP in the states of the federation, especially where they have gubernatorial vacuums. Hence, Cross River is not an exception, as Senator Onor has now become the credible alternative and poster child of these revolutionaries, who have now settled for Onor as the possible solution to their existential issues. In words and deed, they have thrown their weight behind him, believing same that he is the most prepared and preferred candidate in the present two horse race in the state.

    The youths must therefore rise beyond emotions and sentiments, and advocate through the ballot to elect a “governor of governors” with power, capacity and integrity to lead Cross Cross River out of messy eight years of Ayade’s malfeasance. This is in view of the fact that his administration shall be youth-friendly and less genrontocratic in style. Government ministries and agencies shall be handled by young and intelligent graduates.

    A vote for distinguished senator Sandy Onor is a guarantee for better Cross River. Cross Riverians, let us enthrone, in Sandy Onor, a government that we all would be proud of, on March 11, 2023.

    Ori Owan Esq.

  • Jarigbe Agom Accuses Police, APC In Cross River Of Blackmail, Calls On IG TO Prosecute Alphonsus Eba

    Jarigbe Agom Accuses Police, APC In Cross River Of Blackmail, Calls On IG TO Prosecute Alphonsus Eba

    Culled From Punch 

    Senator Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe of the Peoples Democratic Party has challenged the Police in Cross River State to be professional in their conduct by not colluding in anyway with members of the All Progressives Congress in their cheap blackmail against him .

    Jarigbe, who defeated governor Ben Ayade of the APC to win the Cross River North senatorial seat, said despite the crushing defeat suffered by APC in Cross River North , members of the party were still all out to tarnish his image and reputation .

    Addressing the press in his office on Monday , the senator asked the Inspector General of Police , Usman Baba Alkali to put a stop to the show of shame going on in Cross River state where losers of election are hell bent on disparaging the winner .

    He specifically called for the arrest of the chairman of APC in the state , Alphonsus Eba. He further demanded a thorough investigation of alleged nefarious activities by DCP Francis Idu and the state’s Police Public Relations Officer , CSP Irene Ugbo .

    He said, “The Independent National Electoral Commission declared my party, the Peoples Democratic Party, and my humble self, winner of the Cross River North Senatorial District Elections held on the 25th of February, 2023.

    “We emerged victorious in that election with 76, 145 votes; while the candidate of the All Progressive Congress, APC, the sitting governor of Cross River state, H. E. Benedict Ayade, came second with 56, 595 votes. A clear difference of 19,550 votes. Our people made it abundantly clear that I was their choice.

    “But surprisingly , one DCP Francis Idu, in the Cross River State Police Headquarters, who is under the patronage of the state government and their lackeys is abusing his office by indulging Alphonsus Eba in his psychotic odyssey of writing frivolous petitions against me and other respected indigenes of Cross river North.”

    The lawmaker declared that it is a wonder of the criminal world for a man who was caught on camera disrupting collation of results at an Independent National Electoral Commission collation centre to turn around and start writing frivolous petitions against us, when he should be facing charges for electoral offences.

    According to him, “The height of this shameless alliance with Alphonsus Eba and these shameless elements in the Police, is a video my attention was drawn to, where some persons were paraded by the police in Cross River state for allegedly perpetrating electoral violence in the just concluded presidential and National Assembly elections held on the 25th of February, 2023.”

  • CR PDP To Hold Crucial Stakeholder’s Meeting On Monday March 6th, 2023

    CR PDP To Hold Crucial Stakeholder’s Meeting On Monday March 6th, 2023

    PDP STAKEHOLDERS MEETING
    The following are invited to attend a crucial stakeholders meeting of the pdp on Monday 6th March, 2023 at the Diamond Hall Transcorp Hotel, calabar by 11am
    1. State Exco members of the PDP
    2. 18 chapter Chairmen of the pdp
    3. All members of the pdp state caucus
    4. All candidates of the pdp in the 2023 general election
    5. Serving Members of the cross river state house of Assembly who are members of the pdp.
    6. Chapter coordinators of the caterpillar
    Movement.
    7. 19 Heads of state Directorates campaign
    8. 18 heads of local government campaign councils
    9. Exco of state pdp support Groups
    10. Members of the pdp Elders committee
    11. Dr Pius Tawo
    12 AIG J. Mbu Rtd
    13. AIG Enene Rtd

    Attendance to this meeting is strickly on invitation.
    Thank you

    Joe Obi Bisong
    DDG, PDP CRS

  • Why Obono Obla And The APC HIERARCHY Are Afraid Of The Military BY DOMINIC KIDZU

    Why Obono Obla And The APC HIERARCHY Are Afraid Of The Military BY DOMINIC KIDZU

    WHY OBONO OBLA AND THE APC HIERARCHY ARE AFRAID OF THE MILITARY

    By Dominic kidzu

    Chief Obono Obla has been on overdrive since last week’s polls throwing tantrums like a baby in need of its feeding bottle. In doing so he has told dozens of lies against the PDP and the Nigerian military and is generally confirming what we already knew that the APC is scared of the coming governorship and House of Assembly polls because of its tattered performance in the two tenures of its misrule at all levels.

    Obla would like the general public to believe the ruse that it was not the government at various levels that deployed the military to give security cover on election day as has been the tradition over the years. In his wild goose chase he seems to be suggesting that a private citizen or some set of private citizens actually brought out the military on election duty nationwide.

    To remind Obono Obla, who has really not been able to return to normalcy ever since he was disgraced out of office at the federal level with accompanying embarrassing legal suits that tended to have reduced his claims to intellectual and legal high ground, no one outside the Commander In Chief of the federal republic and his military generals can move the military around the country.

    Obono Obla should recall that President Buhari, the leader of the APC and the country made an announcement just before the elections ordering the military to shoot at sight people who steal election materials or try to intimidate voters. If members of his party fell foul of this order and were duely arrested or disciplined, Obla should not go about in search of scapegoats because he will not find any.

    What Obla has inadvertently laid bare is his frustration at the capacity of the Nigerian military to deny his party members the opportunity to use cult groups, bandits and cutthroats to intimidate voters and steal electoral materials to formulate criminal and unverifiable victory. Even when a fine gentleman and level headed media man and politician in his party, Ritchie Romanus gently cautioned him against his wild scaremongering, Obla employed hack writers to insult him in a voluminous poorly written response.

    The Nigerian military is not a party in this election nor does it have a dog in the fight. Imagine what would have happened in Ugep and several other areas if military personnel were not on election duty with highly respected individuals resorting to brute force in order to win by any means necessary, even if several people were killed in the process. The military high command is advised to ignore and disregard the vituperations of Obono Obla as mere sound and fury without substance. The military will surely return on election duty on March 11, and there is nothing Obono Obla and his like can do about that.

  • Guber poll: No Going Back On “Project Reclaim CRS” From APC Govt, Says Hon Mbora

    Guber poll: No Going Back On “Project Reclaim CRS” From APC Govt, Says Hon Mbora

     

    The member representing Calabar Municipality /Odukpani Federal Constituency, Rt. Hon. Eta Mbora, has stated unequivocally that there is no going back in the project to reclaim Cross River state from the All Progressives Congress (APC) -led government.

    Mbora maintained that he remained focused and totally committed in ensuring the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) emerged victorious in Saturday’s Governorship and State House of Assembly elections in the state.

    Debunking claim that he has abandoned the party’s governorship candidate, Sen. Sandy Onor, the lawmaker said the outcome of the February 25 National Assembly election in his federal constituency will not in any way deter him from working assiduously for the success of his party, the PDP, from clinching the Governorship and State Assembly polls in his constituency.

    He said: “My focus now is how to assist the PDP to victory. I would join hands with other stakeholders of the PDP to work for the vcitory of the party in coming Saturday’s polls. The need to rescue the state from mismanagement of APC should be the motivating factor for all those that truly love the state to support the candidates of the PDP.

    “This is an opportunity to right the wrongs in our dear state by voting in PDP all through. It will spell doom for our dear state if we miss this golden opportunity to vote out those that have placed Cross River on the part of retrogression.

    “So, what you hear outside that I have abandoned our party’s candidate after NASS poll is a figment of the writer’s imagination and those who are afraid of the popularity and massive support for the PDP in Cross River.”

    RT. HON. ETA MBORA MEDIA TEAM

  • Beware The Ides Of March BY EMMANUEL IBESHI

    Beware The Ides Of March BY EMMANUEL IBESHI

    BEWARE THE IDES OF MARCH!!!

    By Emmanuel Ibeshi

    I want to thank all Nigerians at home and diaspora for believing in Nigeria and contributing to the political advancement of the country in participating via different platforms to registering very loudly what leaves none in doubt to the hunger for good governance amongst the presidential choices canvassed, supported and presented on February 25 2023. The energy, candor, emotions and resources plowed in at various levels go to show that sooner than later, the true strength of Nigeria as a nation will emerge and NO ONE, NATION or CONSPIRACIES can stop her.

    It is obvious Nigerians were let down by only one man Prof. Mahmood Yakubu born in 1962, who gave them hope in the electoral process and made them believe in the incorruptibility of the process and the sanctity of their votes through the Electoral Act which he actively canvassed for and got with the support of Civil Society Organizations on the infallibility of the BVAS a new technology added to the Nigerian electoral lingo that would give needed credibility, trust (if any at all) and transparency on the system. Prof. Yakubu got the needed tools to make Nigerians lift their heads high after the February 25th presidential and national assembly elections but only ended up dashing those hopes and causing shame to course through the veins of every Nigerian young and old especially the young diasporans who for the first time were rekindling hope of visiting their native country for the first time in 2023.

    Suffice to say, most political parties are contesting the “unforced error” thrust on them by the hasty proclamation of a winner by Prof. Mahmood Yakubu. I have contested and won two Federal Elections and contested three state elections as Governor and failed in Nigeria in my lifetime. The feeling of winning and losing elections are not new to me. The pain of betrayal and men playing God can only be imagined! There are several factors that lead to winning and losing elections. The worst is the conspiracies of an elite few who horse trade the destinies of great men and women for selfish gains to the detriment of nation building and economic and socio-cultural change for all. Soon, Nigerians will get the verdict, hopefully to the satisfaction of their votes cast for their preferred presidential candidates with the best candidate transparently, credibly and legitimately announced after justice has been seen and done

    The thrust of this writeup is actually MARCH 11 GOVERNORSHIP ELECTIONS coming up next week Saturday.

    This election is even more crucial to me because I know the enormity of transformation that can occur when the right individual is vested with the power to run the affairs of a state.

    One viable state that can ride the tide of unequal economic climate and tap the human and natural resources available to him and transform his state to become a reference point for others to learn how the feat was accomplished.

    I will make a particular reference to my home state, Cross River State where all the parties have presented their candidates. We have had the experience of witnessing the capacity of three governors in Cross River State from 1999 to date from the three senatorial districts. We can judge who had understanding within the context of vision, experience, age, temperament, organizational skills and necessary deployment of human and natural resources for the advancement of the state. If Nigeria can be analyzed under the APC administration as a failed state, then Cross River State fits the bill of a failed state in a micro context. The hunger and thirst to make Cross River State work again can be likened to the hunger and thirst that drove Nigerians at home and diaspora to own PVCs to enable them vote a credible leader that could effect the necessary change in their expectations in the recent past presidential election held on February 25 2023.

    My choice is unarguably Prof Sandy Ojang Onor of the PDP whom I have come to study from a distance for a while as his political profile kept rising as a young man since his days as a Local Government Council Chairman and subsequently Deputy National Chairman of Association of Local Government Of Nigeria(ALGON) where his contributions and the battle for Local government autonomy from the vice grips of Governors was herculean. His tint as Commissioner variously in the Cross River State government and eventual election into the Senate of the Federal Republic and his boisterous contributions which some TV Stations use as soundbites till date and his ability to harness human resources to enable him deliver his objectives make me adopt him as my choice for March 11 2023.
    There is no gainsaying that Cross River needs all hands on deck to rescue, repair and rebuild the foundations so far destroyed by previous maladministration for the state to make progress and take the lead again. It won’t be a macho performance nor a mean task but a diligent, self-sacrificial and painstaking intentional act of the incoming governor to achieve this rebuilding. I have confidence that Prof. Sandy Onor is adequately equipped to effect this desired feat.

    I do pray we all make this desired sacrifice and come out enmass to cast our votes for PDP’s Prof. Sandy Ojang Onor on March 11th 2023.
    God bless Cross River state. God Bless Nigeria.
    Hon. Emmanuel A. Ibeshi

  • Sometimes There Are Situations In Life That Only The Mountain Top Can Provide Answers BY PETER OBELE

    Sometimes There Are Situations In Life That Only The Mountain Top Can Provide Answers BY PETER OBELE

    MOUNTAIN TOP

    Sometimes there are situations in life that only the mountain top can provide answers. Both Abraham and Jesus went to the mountain top and their lives were never the same again. Jesus, with Peter, James, and John went to the mountain top to pray and the whole heavenly court was on the side of Jesus. They heard the voice of the invisible God saying, “This is my chosen Son: listen to him.” (Luke 9:35). Abraham was able to receive the blessing of being the father of all nations because he was willing to go to the mountain top (Gen. 12:1-4). Moses encountered God on the mountain, and so did Elijah. By mountain top, we are referring to that changing experience of prayer in your life that leaves you a completely different person.

    In life, we sometimes experience absurdities that fill our minds with doubts; situations that could lead us to give up the faith and at times like that we ask, “Where is God?”. For example, the just concluded election results in Nigeria left many wondering whether or not God is still in control. For some, it was nothing short of subvertion of justice that could lead to crisis. But let the will of God be done. At other times, we face crises such as terminal illnesses, breakdown of marital relationships, discord between friends and family members etc. At times like this, we feel like the whole world is collapsing right under our noses. It is precisely at times luke this we need to go up the mountain top of our prayer lives and ask God to help us see things from his own point of view

    By the time God grants us such a glimpse of his divine guidance, we will realize that all our troubles in this life are short-lived and in Gods time everything will fall into place. Then, we would have the courage to accept the apparently meaningless situations of this life, knowing well that through it all, God is not only in control, but he is on our side. All it takes is a little glimpse of heaven, to empower us to take up our crosses and follow. Find time during this lenten season to go to the mountain top. Try a programme of prayer this lent and life will never be the same again.