By Vitalis Ugoh, Calabar: A former governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Cross River , Mr. Odey Ochicha, has warned Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River State against intimidation and harassment of members of the party in the state.
A statement issued in Calabar by his media aide, Mr. Inyali Peter, the APC chieftain said that the recent report credited to Barr. Joe Abang, Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General (AG) of the state that the government has declared social media critic Mr. Ifere Paul wanted was not acceptable.
According to him, “APC will no longer tolerate further assault on her members by this government”.
He called Senator Ayade to stop acting like a demigod or dictator and allow democratic norms to thrive in the state.
Ochicha described the action of the government as a total show of shame, illegal and an abuse of the office he was occupying adding that he had
no such right to declare any member of public wanted.
While calling on party members not to panic, he said ” that Ayade should face governance and stop portraying himself like an emperor in an uncivilized empire”.
Ochicha maintained that the way Ayade has handled opposition in the state is a test on their collective intelligence and so the party will not hesitate to petition the federal government to avoid a repeat of the mess on our members.
According to him, “Ayade should stop seeing himself like an emperor in an empire where he has absolute powers to determine what people say, do or don’t.
What the AG did was completely illegal and a show of shame because only the police has such right to declare anybody who’s under criminal investigation wanted. He has shown that he is ignorant of the law which means he doesn’t even have respect for the exulted office he is occupying”.
He recalled that “soon after Barr. Vena Ikem and Paul Adah left PDP, Vena was declared wanted while Paul’s house was attacked by hoodlums. Democracy allow for right to freedom of expression and association. How come is only the APC members that have been declared wanted?”.
He therefore charged the state police command and other security agencies in the state not to allow themselves be used as a tool to persecute opposition in the state.
“The police and other security agencies should know they are not in the state to serve only the interest of the government but also the public. They must avoid being used as tool of vendetta by government, he added”.
