Olushola Omogbehin
Former Cross River Governor, Prof. Ben Ayade, has expressed being betrayed by President Bola Tinubu’s directive that he should abandon his bid for the Cross River North Senate seat.
Ayade who made this statement in his official Facebook page alleged that the beneficiaries of the president’s order were the same political opponents who had turned churches against him during the 2023 elections, accusing the APC of an Islamisation agenda.
“To be asked to yield the ticket to the same persons that called us Muslims and brandished guns and machetes at collation centres against us is most traumatising.”
He explained that he had played great roles in building the APC in the South-South, being the first APC governor in the region.
According to him, he delivered nearly 40,000 votes above the PDP for Tinubu in Cross River in 2023 and had funded the party’s national convention by donating vehicles and motorbikes and also launched a free transport scheme to support the president ahead of 2027.
Reminding the president of his various contributions, he said he was the first APC governor to back him for the 2023 ticket and originated the slogan, “If Tinubu can fix Lagos, Tinubu can fix Nigeria.”
The governor who revealed that he had stepped down from Senate and governorship races before in 2007 and 2015, said “I believe in destiny and the hand of God. Our show of restraint even in strength is not a weakness.”
Pledging to continue to support all the APC candidates including President Tinubu and Governor Bassey Otu, he called on his supporters to remain patient and hopeful.
“Our collective heartbreak is well documented in high heavens and those who influenced the president to stop me shall one day be faced with their own karma.”
Ayade was a former senator representing Cross River North in the National Assembly and two term Governor of Cross River State.
