Cross River PDP says Ayade’s defection was expected

Cross River State Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, stakeholders have said that the last Thursday defection of Governor Ben Ayade to the All Progressive Congress (APC), was expected.

Addressing a press conference in Calabar on Saturday, the immediate past governor of the state, Senator Liyel Imoke, noted that as regrettable as the action was, it was not a surprise after all to the party.

Imoke, who spoke in the presence of members of the National Assembly from the state, appealed to the loyalists of the party to remain steadfast, just as he wished Ayade well in his new party.

“While being rather regrettable, it does not come to us as a surprise. We join the National Party to wish him well in his new political found adventure,” Imoke said.

Ayade, it would be recalled, had on Thursday dumped the PDP, under which he became Cross River State governor for two-term, for the APC, hinging his decision on the qualities of President Muhammadu Buhari and the need for the state to be in sync with the government at the centre.

Meanwhile, the Cross River State secretariat of the PPD in Calabar was early Saturday morning cordoned off by a contingent of policemen, numbering over 50, while the building was being stripped of all PDP emblems.

The policemen, who came in unmarked vehicles, Tribune Online observed, appeared to be in the vicinity to provide cover for the people ripping off all emblems of the PDP from the building.

A Calabar based online medium, CrossRiveWatch, earlier reported that the immediate past State Chairman of the party, who also been served as caretaker committee Chairman, Ntufam Inok Edim, was around the Secretariat, discussing with a couple of others about the building which according to him, is supposed to serve a different purpose.

Just as the PDP flags were being dismantled, painters were equally called in and the repainting of the secretariat to green and white colours.

The reasons for the development could not be ascertained as of the time of filing this report.

YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE

We Have Not Had Water Supply In Months ― Abeokuta Residents

In spite of the huge investment in the water sector by the government and international organisations, water scarcity has grown to become a perennial nightmare for residents of Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. This report x-rays the lives and experiences of residents in getting clean, potable and affordable water amidst the surge of COVID-19 cases in the state…Cross River PDP  Cross River PDP

Selfies, video calls and Chinese documentaries: The things you’ll meet onboard Lagos-Ibadan train

The Lagos-Ibadan railway was inaugurated recently for a full paid operation by the Nigerian Railway Corporation after about a year of free test-run. Our reporter joined the train to and fro Lagos from Ibadan and tells his experience in this report…Cross River PDP  Cross River PDP