Breaking: Buhari Receives Ayade in Aso Rock Days After Defection to APC
- Ben Ayade, the governor of Cross Rivers state has paid the first visit to President Muhammadu Buhari in Aso Rock as APC governor
- Ayade, who was elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in 2015 and 2019, dumped the party in May for the ruling APC
- Ayade is the second PDP sitting governor to have left the PDP and pitched his camp with the ruling APC recently
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Aso Rock, Abuja - President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday, June 3, received the governor of Cross River state, Prof. Ben Ayade, who recently defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Aso Rock.
Legit.ng reports that the governor was received by the president and they later went into a meeting alongside the chief of staff, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari.
Source: Twitter
In May 2021, Governor Ayade announced that he was leaving the main opposition political party PDP for the ruling APC.
He was received by six APC governors and some members of the National Assembly including the APC caretaker chairman, Mai Mala Buni.
Ayade was elected as the governor of Cross River state in 2015 under the platform of the PDP, he was also reelected in 2019 under the platform of the same political party.
Former presidential aide Florence Ita-Giwa defects from PDP to APC
Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that the Cross River chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lost one of its chieftain, Florence Ita-Giwa, to the ruling APC.
It was reported that Ita-Giwa, who was a former presidential adviser on National Assembly Matters and the leader of the Bakassi people, said on Tuesday, June 1, that she moved to the APC with Governor Ayade to lift her people out of poverty.
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The former senator said it was incumbent upon her to do all she can to ameliorate her people's hardship.
Ita-Giwa noted that she would not hesitate to do all that she can to promote industrialization, which according to her, was the reason she accepted to be the state ambassador for industrial projects at the risk of being mocked by less discerning pundits.
She said over the years she has amassed tons of goodwill both nationally and internationally, saying that she believes now is the time to put it to good use on behalf of my state.
Ayade's deputy Esu dumps PDP for APC
In a related report, the deputy governor of Cross River state, Prof. Ivara Ejemot Esu, officially resigned his membership of the PDP and joined the APC.
The deputy governor's official defection comes days after his principal, Ben Ayade, joined the ruling party.
He said he is in support of his boss in his effort to move Cross River development to the next level, noting that the south-south had never been in opposition with the federal government since 1999 until the current dispensation.
Source: Legit.ng
