The Chairman of Young Progressives Party, YPP, and former IPAC Chairman in Cross River State, Anthony Bissong Attah has faulted last weekend’s mass endorsement of Governor Bassey Otu for a second term by ruling party leaders from the state senatorial district.
In a statement, Attah argued that the governor has not bothered to prioritize development of Ikom, for instance, which is economic capital and the second biggest city in the state.
He lamented that after rebranding the state capital, Calabar, the governor rather bypassed the central district to develop Ogoja because the deputy governor, Peter Odey hails from there.
He alleged that Ikom is the ‘global headquarters’ of bad roads as potholes adorn major streets and linking communities.
“Ikom is currently the biggest emerging city centre without a tertiary institution in Africa.
“Ikom is indeed a developing city without government presence. Individuals take responsibility for virtually everything. They provide their own light, water, security, health, and other basic amenities, yet the government generate stupendous revenue from the town and it’s environs.
“Should we blame the governor completely for this unfortunate development? No, no! Yes, the governor has a fair share of the blame for not prioritizing the development of Ikom.
“After rebranding Calabar, the governor took a long-distance race to develop Ogoja. You may say the Deputy Governor is from Ogoja. Interesting narrative, right?”;;
Attah noted that the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Elvert Ayambem and the Secretary to the State Governor, Prof Anthony Owan-Enoh – all from old Ikom yet they could not influence development to Ikom.
He questioned why Ikom should remain unattended for two years now.
“Why should Ikom be treated as the patient dog, always having to wait till forever? How about the neighboring LGAs? We should be celebrating the completion of projects and not the award of contracts after two years without contractors mobilizing to the site.”;;
The opposition leader described the endorsement of 10th May 2025 as an endorsement of darkness.
