Cross River Governor, Ben Ayade, defects from PDP to APC

The Governor of Cross River State, Ben Ayade, has formally defected from Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) after months of speculations that he would do so.

Gov. Ayade announced his departure from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Thursday while hosting six APC governors who visited him in Calabar, the state capital.

The visiting governors were Mai Mala Buni of Yobe, Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi, Hope Uzodinma of Imo, Simon Lalong of Plateau, Badaru Abubakar of Jigawa and Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti.

It is not exactly clear the reason why the Cross River governor left the platform that brought him to power in 2015.

But there are speculations that he has for months complained about being poorly treated by the PDP.

With his defection, Ayade becomes the only APC governor from the South-South geopolitical zone.

The ruling party had also lost its only governor in the zone last year when Godwin Obaseki of Edo defected to the PDP few months to the governorship election in that state and won his reelection on that platform.

With governor Ayade in the APC, the party now has 21 governors, the PDP 14 and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) one.

Gov. Ayade’s defection came six months after his Ebonyi State counterpart, David Umahi, also left the PDP.

Gov. Umahi also left the PDP last November citing “injustice” meted out to the South-east by the party as the reason for his departure from the party.