Ayade’s defection: Inside story of APC, PDP battle for secretariat

The recent defection of Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River State from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the national ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), on Thursday, May 20, 2021, has ruptured the bottled up anger held overtime by PDP dignitaries and other stakeholders against him.

An allegation that the governor had  forcibly took over the PDP state secretariat two days after his formal announcement of defection has completely jostled the party’s diehards and stakeholders in the state, stirring up their ill feelings against the governor.

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Before now, it was clear that the governor was not having it easy within the PDP as other seasoned politicians began to show that they were fed up with his antics and tendencies to dominate, impose unilateral will and institute political structures without consultations or inputs.

One was the imposition of ward and council chairmen, which drew the ire of members of the National Assembly from the state who are of the PDP. With support from godfathers from background, they jointly kicked against such unilateral decision. This resulted in legal tussles and the current logjam, where the Senate is unable to decide who is the authentic senator representing the Cross River North after the by-election where a former State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) boss and Ayade’s strong foot-soldier, Senator Stephen Odey, had been sworn in and is still in the Senate. There is also a member of the House of Representatives, Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe, representing the Ogoja/Yala constituency, who the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) also issued a Certificate of Return as senator-elect in the same by-election following an apex court judgement.

A member representing Boki 1 constituency in the state House of Assembly, Mrs Itam Abang, has said that eight of them out of the 25-member House of Assembly would not leave the PDP with the governor. She added that time had come for them to look at all the governor’s acclaimed signature projects, such as the multi-billion naira 276 km superhighway, Bakassi deep seaport, the Obudu airport and others,  as well as the alleged forceful acquisition of state properties for private use.

“We want to put the governor in the hot seat to explain where he derives such powers to unilaterally decide on how to expend state resources,” she said.

She said this when the PDP bigwigs in the state assembled three days after Ayade’s defection to re-strategise and consolidate on their position.

At that meeting, where they denounced the governor as one who bit the finger that fed him and for having the effrontery to allegedly invade their state secretariat with armed policemen and converted it for APC’s use, his immediate predecessor, Senator Liyel Imoke, said he took responsibility for imposing him on the state as governor.

He, however, insisted that it was insulting to say that he collected N2billion to make Ayade governor or sold the governorship ticket to him in 2015

On why he kept quiet until now, even when the people reportedly lamented the steady socio-political decline in the state, he said that as a father figure, he did not want to throw the state into a quagmire by coming out publicly to decry the state of affairs.

According to him, the original PDP is back now that there has been a divine intervention, where “Jonah has decided on his own to jump out of the boat.’’ He added that he and other stakeholders would work to return the party to power.

“What has happened to the party is a divine intervention. The party will ensure that democracy thrives and power returns to the people through the youth,” he said.

He accused Ayade of being an autocrat, decrying how he had managed the party and insisted that throughout his time as governor, the party was managed democratically.

“At no point in time did we have a party led by one man, one family, not responsible and able to carry everyone along. It is very painful because power came from the people. We had leaders at every level and they had a level of responsibility,’’ he said.

On his part, the caretaker chairman of the party, Efiok Cobham, who was Imoke’s deputy, said the party was focused and committed to bringing back the core values that defined it. He said they were not in a hurry to hand over the state to the APC.

On what they are doing to get back the PDP secretariat, Cobham said they were approaching the court, especially as the landlord, Ene Lawrence, does not recognise the APC as his tenants.

Reacting to the allegation that he forcibly took over the PDP secretariat in Calabar, Ayade, in a statement by his media aide, Christian Ita, described it as tissue of lies and cocktail of fraudulent claims.

He said the outburst of Imoke and his friends was driven by greed, avarice and laziness.

“The former PDP secretariat is a rented property. Its rent was personally renewed three months ago by Governor Ayade, who has decamped to the APC,” he said.

On the said property, Ayade said he personally renewed the rent; therefore, it is not owned by the PDP because that party has since collapsed into APC, which he is the leader

But the landlord, Ene Lawrence, has said he has no tenancy agreement with the governor or the APC but the PDP.

He told the APC to vacate his property, saying that a tenant does not have the power to evict another; in this case, the PDP.

In a statement, he noted, “There’s no tenancy agreement between me and Ayade or the APC that confers the latter the right to the property.

“The PDP is still the legal tenant of the property at 42a Murtala Mohammed Way till September 21, 2021. Nobody or party can take possession of the property before their tenancy. It is the landlord that effects eviction, not a new tenant,” he said.

Despite all these, the caretaker committee chairman of the APC in the state, Senator Matthew Mbu, told journalists that the defection had opened the floodgate for even top politicians with Imoke.

He said that in few weeks, many would formally announce their cross over to the APC to ensure that they consolidate.

However, the chairmen of Labour Party (LP) in the state, Ambassador Osim Ogar and that of Young Progressives Party (YPP), Anthony Bissong Attah, described the political development in the state as an opportunity to showcase that they are the best possible alternatives.

On the legal implications of the wrangling between the two top parties in the state, Chief Utum Eteng said, “The outburst from Imoke is uncalled for. It is out of desperation and anger over Ayade’s exit. They should know that life must go on. Ayade has the right to belong to any party.’’

He said Imoke did not have the moral right to speak about one being autocratic, adding that he should remember what he did to a former Senate leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba in 2014.