The governorship candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Cross River State, Arthur Jarvis, has alleged that the administration of Governor Bassey Otu is planning a fresh clampdown on him and his privately owned university.

Jarvis claimed the government had already targeted his running mate, Alphonsus Ogar Eba, by marking his residence within the Water Board area of Calabar for demolition, warning that he could be the next target.

“They are coming after me. When they finish with Eba, I’m next,” he told journalists in Calabar, linking an ongoing tax audit of his university to the controversy surrounding the proposed demolition exercise.

The PDP flagbearer accused the state government of deploying tax authorities to intimidate him because of his opposition politics.

“The taxes of our university are up to date,” he said, insisting the institution had fully complied with its tax obligations and describing the audit as “funny” and “insulting.”

According to him, unlike some states that provide grants and infrastructure support to private universities, his institution has received neither financial assistance nor improvements to its access roads. 

He also alleged that repeated requests for a courtesy visit to Governor Otu by the University management since the administration came into office had gone unanswered.

The opposition candidate further alleged that the planned demolition of his running mate’s property formed part of what he described as an attempt to weaken the opposition, warning the government against escalating political tensions.

However, the Cross River State Government has denied any political motive behind the demolition notices, or attempt to muzzle Jarvis.

The government said the demolition exercise is part of efforts to rehabilitate the state’s water infrastructure under a World Bank-backed project and affects 39 structures built on major underground water pipelines, not Eba’s property alone. 

Special Adviser to the Governor on General Duties, Ekpenyong Akiba, and Commissioner for Information Erasmus Ekpang maintained that the exercise was driven by public interest, stressing that properties belonging to other prominent individuals and government facilities were also affected. 

Former Attorney-General of the Federation, AGF, Abubakar Malami and former Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, are currently in a closed-door meeting.

The closed-door meeting between the two chieftains of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, is taking place in Amaechi’s residence in Abuja on Friday.

This is sequel to the former Minister’s visit to former Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, in Abuja, on Thursday.

Recall that the ADC unveiled Amaechi as running mate to the party’s presidential candidate for the 2027 general elections, Atiku Abubakar.

The ADC has also uploaded the names of Atiku and Amaechi on the nomination portal of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, ahead of next year’s election.

At the time of filing this report, details of the meeting cannot be ascertained.
Watch video:

The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, on Friday described the Minister of the Federal Capital territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike as the National Leader of the winning faction of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

Akpabio made the remark while urging Nigerians to ignore Wike’s comment that he was an uncommon performer as a governor under the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, stressing that he is now an ancestor.

He spoke during the commissioning of access roads to the Renewed Hope Cities and estates in Karsana district of the FCT to mark President Bola Tinubu’s third year in office.

Earlier, Wike in his introduction described Akpabio as a uncommon performer while he was the governor of Akwa Ibom State under the PDP.

Responding, Akpabio said: “Members of the Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress, please ignore the comment of the minister that I was an uncommon performer in the PDP, he is not talking about the PDP of today and you need to know that at that time there was no APC.

“APC was born in about 2014 and by that time I was already seven and a half years as a governor and that’s why I sometimes refer to myself as an ancestor.

“I was sworn into office way back in 2007 and there was no APC then, a progressives minded person like me should be belong to a progressive family, so therefore, when the APC came to be; I discovered that that was my group and was in the wrong party called the PDP, so I exit early and joining the progressives, shortly after that you now know what happened to PDP.

“They fragmented, I don’t know how you are going to put it today but I recognize you as the National leader of the winning faction of the PDP because you are doing well.”