BY: Our Reporter, Calabar
A group, “The Bridge Movement”, has come down hard on those who insist that Sen. John Owan Enoh who is contesting the Cross River State governorship ticket of the APC with Sen. Prince Bassey Otu in court and Prof. Sandy Onoh of the PDP should both step down since they are both from the Central Senatorial District and it is now the turn of the South to produce the governor in 2023.
In a press release signed by its Director General, Don Courageo Michaels, the group questioned the moral grounds of the proponents of power shift to the south based on the power rotation principle as it was observed that a particular section of the district had always been politically marginalised.
The group tasked the back-to-south proponents, as the power shift advocates are coined, to practice what they preach.The release reads; “Those mouthing back-to-south should be kind enough to practice what they preach because charity begins at home.”
“The former state governor, Mr. Donald Duke is an Efik man from Akpabuyo. The present gubernatorial candidate of the APC is another Efik man from Odukpani. Also, all the senators of the district since the inception of the present-day Cross River State have all been Efik.”

The group shared its “concern that nobody from Akamkpa/Biase has ever occupied either of those exalted positions.” It therefore questioned, “if they are no persons good enough for those positions from the two Local Government Areas?”
The Bridge Movement pledged their support for Sen. John Owan Enoh’s court action but faulted the position of the back-to-south advocates who they claim have now resorted to blackmail and threats against the person of Sen. Enoh for exercising his right of seeking to be elected govenor of Cross River State.
It also reads; “We wholly support whatever decision and action Senator Owan Enoh is taking concerning his political future but we are saddened by the resort of the so called back-to-south groups to name-calling, cheap blackmail, intimidation and threats against Senator Enoh and his supporters.”
“This sorry state of affairs is obviously due to his daring to contest the qualification and the purported clearance given to the anointed candidate in court.”
“It should be noted that Sen. Enoh has the fundamental right to seek to be elected to any position of his choosing if he meets the needed criteria. He also has the right to question the eligibility of his co-contestants if he has reason to.”
Finally, the group advised that; “those shouting the back-to-south slogan should concentrate their energies on providing evidence that could help their principal in court, and to always remember that those who go to equity must do so with clean hands.”