Barely two weeks after a group, the Cross River Alliance For Progress(CRAP) in Cross River State accused the state governor, Apostle Bassey Edet Otu of taking over his current wife, Eyoanwan, from his former mentor, Dominic Edet Bassey, even when the man was still alive, another group in the state has said that the governor lacks the moral credentials to lead the state.
Saying that Apostle Otu was yet to defend himself over the allegations of wife snatching, president of the Calabar South Youths Initiative, Eteyen Bassey, said that the since the governor was now an apostle and Eyoanwan a bishop, it had become necessary for the governor to come out clean on the matter.
“How can a man claim to be an apostle when he stylishly snatched his leader’s wife and got married to the same woman who now claims to be a bishop? Prince Otu should answer the question concerning his marriage to his former oga’s wife.
“This matter will not die. Prince Otu needs to tell us the circumstances that led to his decision to collect Mavenco’s wife. It was very strange, that out of all the women in this world, it was his oga’s wife that entered his eyes and he had to collect the woman from Mavenco.
“We understand that the man eventually died after Her Excellency, Bishop Eyoanwan had left him. We cannot say if Mavenco’s death had anything to with the exit of his wife; it is only Apostle Bassey Edet Otu can explain this and we are waiting anxiously for this explanation.
“But for now, we do not think that our governor has the moral capacity to occupy the office of governor. If we allow him to remain in the office, he may do same thing to other Cross Riverians.”
The CRAP group was the first to call out the governor on the matter, under the current dispensation. In their letter, they had said: “We have heard stories about your relationship with your former boss, the late Dominic Edet Bassey, the man that was popularly called Mavenco.
We knew him to be your godfather, your political mentor, you boss; the man that stood by you, giving you protection and guidance in the political landscape of Cross River State.
He was chairman of the then SDP between 1991 and 1993. He died at 65 and till date, we still miss him.
“But there is something that is still not clear: what we hear is that you took advantage of your closeness to that family and decided to collect Mavenco’s wife. You took her and today, she is your wife. We are talking about the wife of your former mentor, who must have cooked for you when you used to visit them as Mavenco’s ‘boy.’
“So, what really happened, Your Excellency. We know you are an apostle. You will not lie to us, you will not lie to the people of Cross River.
Please tell us, is Bishop Eyoanwan Bassey Duke, your current wife, the same woman that Mavenco married? This is all we want to know.
“Please do not get angry at us. We are on a mission for progress in our state and this is very important to us.
“People have called you a covetous man, ostensibly because of the belief that you coveted the wife of your former boss and then went ahead to take over.
People have also alleged that Mavenco died because of the heart break, when it dawned on him that you actually took over and married his own wife.”
