Adedokun Waliyu 
As the 2023 general election draws near, members of a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) support group, Reclaim Cross River, have vowed to mobilise support for the party’s presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
The group equally claimed that the All Progressives Congress (APC) had no chance of a revival in Cross River owing to the alleged poor performance of the State government
In a statement on Sunday by RCR’s Founder, Mr. John George, described the hope that the governor, Senator Ben Ayade’s defection to the APC would translate into electoral victory for the party as illusory.
He said, “In addition to ensuring that the PDP wins all elective positions from the governorship down the ballot in the state, RCR is also campaigning for our Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar and his running mate, Senator Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa.
“The PDP will sweep the polls from the presidency to state Assembly elections in Cross River because as we speak, the APC is no longer a factor in the electoral map of the state”, George declared.
“Reclaim Cross River is a child of necessity. It would be recalled that during the tenure of former governor, Mr. Donald Duke Cross River was the tourist destination of choice in Nigeria. In fact, visitors came from outside Nigeria to visit the state. This legacy was sustained with renewed infrastructural development by Senator Liyel Imoke between 2007 and 2015.
“Regrettably, all the gains of the Donald Duke and Liyel Imoke administrations have been squandered and reversed.
“Today, Cross River state is only a shell of its old self, a source of derision by all. To make matters worse, the governor took the ill-advised decision to defect to the APC, a party whose calamitous failure in all spheres is spectacular. Talk of birds of a feather flocking together!
“So our mission is to reclaim and rescue Cross River from the years of the locusts that the Ayade and the APC government represents.
“With a solid grassroots structure spanning all the polling units where we have Coordinators up to the state level, the Reclaim Cross River campaign is spreading like wild fire. It is this momentum that has sounded the death knell for APC in the state – the same that will propel PDP to victory come 2023.
“Ordinarily, we wouldn’t bother to campaign for PDP in the state since the staggering failure of the APC has clearly shown the people that the PDP, which performed excellently under Duke and Imoke is the only viable alternative.
“But we are not leaving anything to chance, especially given that other parties aside APC which has shut itself out of any reckoning, are also going to be on the ballot. In fact, in Cross River state we are not contesting against APC, we are contesting against other political parties.”
