SPEAKER of the State House of Assembly, Eteng Jonah-Williams, has said that Governor Ben Ayade was not respected and honoured by the hierarchy of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) before his defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Jonah-Williams, who spoke in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Calabar, said that Ayade’s defection from the PDP to the APC was timely.
The speaker, who represents Yakurr II State Constituency in the Assembly, told NAN that out of the 25 House of Assembly members in the state, APC has 18, while the PDP has seven.
“Before the governor took the decision, he consulted widely and the majority of the people told him that he needed to move to the APC.
“While in PDP, the governor was not respected and given the honour he deserved by the hierarchy of the PDP as the leader of the party in the state.
“So, there was a need for him to move. The governor has also stated clearly that he needed to align the state with the happenings in the centre for the interest of the state.
“Cross River is known for always playing politics with the centre. Since 1999, former governors Donald Duke and Liyel Imoke all played politics from the centre.
“Ayade is the only governor from the state who has played opposition for six years now and he feels it is time to align with the centre for the benefit of the state,” he said.
He recalled that during the last ward and chapter congresses of PDP in the state, the PDP national had to recognise a list of executive members who did not even contest for the positions at the ward and chapter level.
