PDP Governor Begging To Join APC Exposed

John Achala, the acting chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Cross River state has claimed that the state governor, Ben Ayade has been begging to leave the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and join them. Ochala who spoke to Daily Trust on Wednesday, March 2, at the party’s secretariat in Calabar, said Ayade has been having talks with key APC stalwarts in the state and at national level to make way for him to join the party.

The party chairman said: “I can confirm authoritatively that Gov. Ayade has spoken with us more than five times about his intention to decamp from PDP to APC.

''But unfortunately for him, he had set preconditions which are not acceptable to us. How can he demand that we should hand over all our party structures to him before he announces his decision to decamp?''

According to him, the party can never Governor Ayade’s preconditions, saying he has to come into the party as ordinary member, and they shall decide which office, if at all, to give him. However, the Chief Press Secretary to Ayade, Christian Ita described Ochala’s claims as a rumour.

''Gov Ayade has said it several times that he is not leaving the PDP for any reason. Perhaps, the people in APC just like my governor. And probably, they are misunderstanding Ayade’s closeness to President Buhari, therefore insinuating that he is nursing ambition to join them,” he said.

Last month, Hilliard Eta, the vice chairman of the APC in the south-south geopolitical zone made same claims. He said Ayade has been informing APC national leaders of his intention to quit the PDP.

Ayade was elected as Cross Rivers state governor on the platform of the PDP in the 2015 governorship election and was sworn in on May 29.

#News