2023 Guber Poll: C-River LG Chair Stops Monarchs’ Meeting With PDP Candidate

BY OUR CORRESPONDENT – Campaigns for this year’s governorship poll in Cross River State took a dramatic turn on Wednesday as the Chairman of Calabar Municipality Local Government Council, Effefiong Nta reportedly stopped royal fathers in the area from meeting the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Senator Sandy Onor.

Reports said the members of the Traditional Rulers Council were locked out of their Secretariat located within the premises of the Municipal Council without any prior information from the authorities.

It was reliably gathered that the monarchs were scheduled to host the PDP gubernatorial flag bearer, Senator Onor as part of his ongoing Stakeholders’ meeting ahead of the March 11, 2023 election in the State.

Competent sources in the Municipal Council hinted that the directives to lock the Traditional Rulers’ Secretariat came from the Council Chairman early in the morning but no reason was given to explain the sudden action.

According to the source who sought anonymity, the Chairman’s directives also placed a ban on any kind of meeting being held in the Secretariat, adding; “I am only working based on directives from above”.

Probed further on the possible reasons behind the order, the insider source volunteered thus; “There is no issue here. The traditional rulers have already met here this month of January and we were also surprised when the directive came.”

But in his reaction, the Paramount ruler of the Municipality, His Royal Majesty (HRM) (Ntoe) Ita Etta, who expressed surprise at the development, told journalists that they were not availed of any reason for prevented from using the Secretariat for their scheduled meeting with the PDP standard bearer.

Ntoe Ita Etta, who is the Ndidem of the Quas and Paramount Ruler of Calabar Municipality, said the royal fathers had “received a notice from the PDP governorship candidate that he will meet with us (traditional rulers) by 2 pm in our Secretariat, which is usually where we hold all our functions and activities.

“As you can see, the Secretariat is locked up and the Council Chairman didn’t tell us why he did what he did, and you can see soldiers everywhere also.”

However, the Municipal Council Chairman also referred to as the ‘Mayor of Calabar’, Effefiong Nta, was unavailable in his office to comment on the development and all calls put through to his phone were unanswered.

Reporters who visited the Council’s Secretariat for an on-the-spot assessment of the situation discovered that a truckload of soldiers (Operation Akpakwu) had been stationed within the premises.

Forefront News reliably learned that the Council Chairman’s action may not be unconnected with not wanting to ‘upset’ his boss, Governor Ben Ayade, who is leading electoral campaigns for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Prince Bassey Otu