Protest rocks C’River council over chairman’s 2nd term bid

Tension is now brewing in Obubra local government Area of Cross River State as religious leaders, youths and political as well as women on Tuesday marched through major streets of the ancient town calling on the council chairman, Keran Mfam not to run for a second term in office.

The protesters, who carried various placards with varying inscriptions such as ‘no second term for chairman,’ ‘we support PDP rotational democracy,’ and ‘Ofumbungha-Yala youths say no to second term bid of chairman,’ among others, shut down Obubra town and dared the chairman to stop them from protesting.

The leader of the protesters, Vincent Ayang said apart from the fact that Obubra people want the chairmanship position to rotate among the various wards, the people were protesting the high-handedness of the chairman.

“We cannot continue to bear the brunt of misrule in this council because we voted for the chairman to change our lives for the better. He has mismanaged the opportunity we gave him and he cannot run for a second term in this council,” Ayang said.

The aggrieved youths and elders alleged that instead of pursuing programmes that would develop the area, “the chairman is concentrating on moves for a second term when he has failed to bring development to Obubra.”

According to him, Obubra people will resist every attempt by the chairman to foist himself on the people, calling on the state leadership of the PDP to advise the council boss to step down his plan.

“We want to say with emphasis that youths of Obubra will resist any attempt by the chairman to return himself to the council office by whatever means. We are ready to fight him and we want the state leadership of our party to come and call the chairman to order before it is too late,” Ayang noted.

MIKE ABANG