The People’s Democratic Party, PDP, in Cross River have called on the state governor, Prof. Ben Ayade to declare the almost 19 billion naira recently paid to the state by the Federal government as refund for road maintenance.

 

They further disclosed that the said maintenance the money was refunded to the tune of about 19 billion naira was undertaken by the PDP administrations of Mr Donald Duke and Liyel Imoke.

 

They made the Call on Wednesday while briefing Journalists at the Ernest Etim-Bassey Press Centre, Calabar.

Briefing Journalists, the Chairman, Caretaker Committee of the PDP, Efiok Cobham Esq. disclosed that gov. Ayade’s movement to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC will cost CrossRiverians 2billion naira.

 

His words: “Governor Ayade has now adopted unconstitutional methods to compel his cabinet and appointees, and other public office holders to follow him to the APC against their choice of remaining in PDP.

“The defection of Governor Ayade to APC is to cost Cross Riverians 2 Billion naira. This is what Ayade needs to buy defectors from even his cabinet to follow him to the APC.

“Governor Ayade can readily expend 2 billion naira to fund his defection to APC

 

because he has ready cash from the almost 19 Billion naira recently paid to

Cross River state as a refund for federal road maintenance undertaken by the PDP administrations of Governors Donald Duke and Liyel Imoke.

“Governor Ayade has refused to declare this money to the people of Cross River state and is frittering it away on purposes other than the common good of Cross Riverians.

“We call on Governor Ayade to declare this 19 billion which is the single largest

 

revenue flow to Cross River State since the creation of the state, and to apply

same in infrastructures like rural roads, urban road network and water which

benefits the common man.

“We are all embarrassed that governor Ayade inherited the best public water supply systems developed by the PDP administrations of Governors Donald Duke and Liyelimoke across the state, and has allowed them today to all fall into disrepair. Our people have gone back to streams and wells for water.

 

Governor Ayade has now also adopted unconstitutional methods to compel his cabinet and appointees, and other public office holders to follow him to the APC against their choice of remaining in PDP.

“Members of the House of Assembly have been offered 30 million naira each and an SUV each if they agree to decamp. Commissioners in Ayade’s cabinet are being offered 3 million naira and a car each to defect to the APC.

“Local government chairmen and councilors are under threat of removal

 

from office unless they defect. All appointees of the governor have been

instructed to produce their APC membership cards before they can receive salaries,” he said

 

In a swift reaction, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to Governor Ayade, Mr. Christian Ita said there was in no doubt that it will take the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Cross River State ages to overcome the shock and trauma suffered following the exit of Ayade from the party.

Ita made the reaction through a release he signed and made available to Vanguard stressing that clearly, the PDP in Cross River was on a free fall and on an uncontrollable hemorrhage.

In His words:

“While we cannot deny them the right to cry over the already spilled milk, they should, however, not be blind to seeing. The continuous griping of the PDP shows clearly how much of an asset Ayade was to the party, hence they can’t get over his exit.

 

In their grief, they seek recourse in mendacity but this will not mitigate their huge and monumental loss. We wish to remind the PDP that those who live in glass houses should be wiser not to hurl stones.

“While still reeling from Ayade’s masterstroke, the almost emptied PDP has been busy shopping for lies to confuse its sagging coterie of followers and at the same time flattering to deceive.

“It is against this backcloth that PDP’s claim that the governor paid N2 billion to people to defect is as ludicrous as the claim that nobody has moved with the governor to APC.

 

PDP, for all they care can go on consoling itself that nobody has moved, but it’s clear that more than 90 percent of the members of the State House Assembly, including the speaker, are already in the APC. The deputy governor, His Excellency Professor Ivara Esu is already in the APC with Ayade.

“Until Ayade left their fold, figures of how much the state collected as refunds for repairs of federal roads were not an issue. But since his exit, the figures are being bandied and extrapolated by PDP mourners to score cheap political points

 

From the well-documented figure of N18bn, wailing wailers of PDP, apologies to Femi Adesina, have now found it convenient to juggle the figure all in a bid to blackmail and incite the public against the governor.

 

“Therefore, while the vanishing clan of PDP tells unwholesome lies about 18bn refund, it should also in good conscience tell Cross Riverians how the state incurred the indebtedness of over N300bn, thus making it the most indebted state in Nigeria,” Ita said