It is no longer news that Professor Ben Ayade the 2nd term governor of Cross River state has finally decamped from the PDP to the APC after almost 2 years of foot dragging.
The NWC of the PDP must have had a premonition about this when he failed to show up at the 17 Southern Governors meeting held at Asaba on Monday,May 11,2021.He dodged appending his signature to the Asaba accord.6 days later on the 17th of May it became most glaring he was out of PDP when he was no where to be found at the PDP Governors Forum meeting held at the IITA in lbadan,Oyo State.ls Ben Ayade not one of the Judases from Southern Nigeria?
He has been threatening leaving the party since last year when he declared he was sitting on the fence and was ready to dump the party if not given his desired respect and recognition.
PDP Governors had visited him to appeal that he should come back into the fold.He has told those who cared to listen that he plays politics with ethics and his style should not be mistaken for weakness.Hear him ‘l cannot blind myself to the challenges of PDP and decide not to know what to do at the right time for Cross River people.Should l say for himself!The Bukola Saraki led reconciliation committee has also waded into his grievances.
What are his grievances?Why will a 2nd term Governor defect from a party that brought him to limelight and prominence?A party that made him a Senator in 2011 and gave him the gubernatorial ticket in 2015.He ran for a 2nd term on the same PDP platform in 2019 and won with a landslide.
What went wrong?How did he lose grip of the party?Afterall the Governor is meant to be the leader of the party in the state.The buck should stop on his table.Especially in a state where there is no ‘Asiwaju ‘.The party structures are meant to be in his pocket.
The problem started over a Senatorial ambition when Senator Rose Okoh died last year.He sponsored Steve Odeh against Hon Agoms Jarigbe who was then a member of the House of Representatives.The agreement was Steve Odeh will only serve one term and relinquish the Cross River North seat for Ben Ayade in 2023.Steve Odeh won the election but lost to Hon Agoms Jarigbe who refused to stay in the House of Representatives.
The Supreme Court eventually ruled that Agoms was the rightful owner of the ticket.ln short Ayade lost to a candidate sponsored by members of the National Assembly from Cross River state.Hence where does he go in 2023?ls it all about self interest?lt is just now he realizes that he wants to connect with the center.A center he lambasted in 2019 when he was campaigning for a 2nd term as Governor.ls it crass opportunism or sincere patriotism?Why do 2nd term Governors decamp?Why do they have to wait for their 2nd term and not during their first term?Let us ask Dave Umahi of Ebonyi state.
Ayade at his press briefing gave 2 main reasons why he is decamping. The first reason was that he needs and wants to connect with the center.Hmmm he is connecting with a center where things are wobbling and falling apart.Where the falcon is no more listening to the falconer.A Tower of Babel where the Attorney General of the Federation and the Southern Governors are churning out discordant tunes.A party without a BoT,that is finding it extremely difficult to organize a convention.
His 2nd reason is his closeness to the President.He is grateful that the 1st official visit on his assumption of office was to Cross River state.He needs to get closer to him since his state has being deprived of its oil wells and they receive the lowest allocation from Abuja.No more 13% derivation.
Why has it taken Governor Ayade 6 years to realize this?2023 is rearing it’s head.Seems the Governor is losing relevance at home and is not in the good books of Wadata Plaza.According to Thomas P O’Neil a former speaker of the United States House of Representatives.All politics is local.Ayade lost out in the local congress.How many of his loyalists are moving with him?l am aware Cross River is almost 100% PDP.From the wards to the Governorship it’s all PDP.
The conspicuous,tendentious and deafening absence of the current leadership of APC in the state at the ceremony says a lot.Were they invited or they just refused to show up?
Is Ayade going to dissolve his cabinet and local government structures to accommodate his new Landlords?Godwin Obaseki of Edo state is still finding it difficult to integrate himself into PDP after 6 months of membership.Will Ayade now become the new South South leader being the only APC Governor from the SS zone.Rotimi Amaechi,Timipre Sylva over to you.
When the artificial and temporary euphoria eventually dies down and the 6 APC Governors including the Supreme Court appointed one return to their respective states.Governor Ben will find out that he is in OYO(On Your Own) dream land.One word of advice.He shouldn’t dare contest for the Cross River North Senatorial seat under APC in 2023.He should be gunning for a ministerial slot.That is assuming without conceding that APC will still be in Abuja.He has self imposed himself into a political orphanage in the SS.
