•Says More PDP Governors Are Joining APC
More governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will leave the opposition party for the All Progressives Congress (APC), Governor Ben Ayade said on Thursday.
The governor who recently announced his defection from the PDP to the APC gave the hint when he featured as a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
“Just watch out, you will see; you will just realise that I know what I am saying,” he stated when he was asked to disclose some of his colleagues mulling their defection.
Governor Ayade added, “I am happy to announce to you that very soon, more governors are joining (the APC), because what we want to achieve is a country where we all can sit with the President and agree on our succession process, we don’t have to fight.”
He denied the claim that he moved to the ruling party after he suffered a huge loss at the recent PDP congress held in his state.
Rather, the governor stressed that he was in control and had a firm grip on the PDP until he announced his exit from the ruling party.
Noting that his defection has led to the reception of thousands of new members by the APC, he acknowledged the important roles the PDP played in his political career.
Governor Ayade noted that the PDP stood by him and gave him the opportunities to become a senator and a two-term governor.
“I will never at any time put down the PDP; I have integrity, I have honour. My politics has ethics, but I chose to join APC to support the President to reduce the tension in this country,” he said.
The governor added, “I have just joined the party today and my experience so far, I feel so happy to have been in this APC today. As to whether there were issues in PDP, no; the party stood by me all the way.
“All the chairmen of the local governments, almost all the House of Assembly members, most of the National Assembly members, my entire commissioners and cabinet today; that is the amount of the political structure … in Cross River State, once the governor moves, everybody moves.”