TheCable

Ben Ayade, governor of Cross River, has dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Ayade defected to the APC on Thursday after meeting with some governors under the party led by Mai Mala Buni, its national caretaker committee chairman.

The APC governors had arrived the state on Wednesday amid the defection rumours.

Ayade said he was joining the ruling party to support President Muhammadu Buhari in building a greater nation.

“It is my responsibility to bring back Cross River to the centre in order to enhance her fortunes,” he also said.

The former senator left the PDP two weeks after governors under the party visited the state to plead with him not to leave.

The team, which was led by the Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto state, also included Ifeanyi Okowa and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, his Delta and Enugu counterparts.

TheCable understands that among the key issues that forced Ayade out of the PDP was the leadership crisis that has been rocking the state chapter of the party.

The governor had alleged that he was being maltreated despite being the leader of the party in the state.

In March, he told the PDP at the national level that it “seems to celebrate people who threaten and stress them.”

His defection brings the APC back in the south-south, after Godwin Obaseki left the party for the PDP just before he won his second term bid as Edo governor.

Ayade is also the second governor to join the ruling party from the PDP in recent months, following in the footsteps of David Umahi of Ebonyi state.