Cross River State Governor, Professor Ben Ayade Thursday dumped the People’s Democratic Party, PDP for the All Progressives Congress, APC.
He formally declared for the ruling party at the Cross River State Executive Council Chamber in Government House in Calabar after a 2-hour meeting with 6 APC governors led by the party’s National Caretaker Committee Chairman and Governor of Yobe State, Mai Mala Buni.
Speaking on why he was joining the APC, Ayade highlighted the character attributes of President Muhammadu Buhari and the realisation that Cross River State, which has been emasculated economically following the ceding of its oil wells to Cameroon and Akwa-Ibom State needed to be in sync with the party at the centre, as the main reasons for leaving the opposition PDP.
The Governor who received the APC leadership with the members of the State House of Assembly and Local Government Chairmen into the APC said, “having seen and known the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and his commitment to this country, his nationalistic disposition and all the efforts he has made to bring Nigeria to where we are today, it is obvious that at this point we needed to join hands with him to build a Nigeria that we can be proud of.
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“We need all governors to recognise that it is not party that matters. It is character, it is honour, it is commitment to the vision of this great nation. We all need to as teamwork ahead of the President by working towards building a prosperous country that the succession worries of 2023 will come without the fears and the worries the international community has for us”.
While formally welcoming Governor Ayade to the APC, the party’s National Caretaker Chairman and Governor of Yobe State, Mai Mala Buni, urged the people of Cross River State to support Ayade, saying he is now the leader of the party in the State.
Aside from the Governor of Yobe, other APC Governors who witnessed the event were Hope Uzodinma of Imo State, Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, Solomon Lalong of Plateau State, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi and his Jigawa State counterpart, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar as well as the Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva.
(Editor: Terverr Tyav)
