Two prominent chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Cross River State have faulted former governor, Senator Ben Ayade, over his recent remarks that the ruling party had treated him unfairly despite his loyalty and decision to lead the state into the APC in 2020.
In separate statements released on Sunday, Hon. Bravo Gabriel Oluohu and former presidential aide, Okoi Obono-Obla, dismissed Ayade’s outburst as misplaced, saying he has only himself to blame for his political setbacks since leaving office.
Oluohu, responding to the former governor’s lamentation made at the Margaret Ekpo International Airport, Calabar, on Friday, described Ayade’s complaint as “self-inflicted.”
He said the ex-governor weakened his own standing within the APC when he chose to contest the party’s 2022 presidential primary despite knowing he had slim chances of success.
APC favoured him with a senatorial ticket against all odds despite internal resistance,” Oluohu said. “But the electorate rejected him at the polls, and that defeat was not the party’s fault.”
The APC stalwart further alleged that Ayade withheld campaign funds during the 2023 elections, an action he claimed was reported to President Bola Tinubu, who viewed it as an act of betrayal. “You can’t eat your cake and have it,” he said. “If there is any blame, Senator Ayade should look inward.”
Similarly, Obono-Obla took a swipe at Ayade’s repeated claim that he “socketed” Cross River State to the political centre, describing such a narrative as “bunkum, balderdash and despicable revisionism.”
According to him, APC had long established its roots in the state before Ayade’s defection in 2020, crediting founding figures like Alex Irek, Ntufam Hilliard Etta, Cletus Obun, Bassey Iso, himselt and others for bringing the party to the state as early as 2013.
Anyone claiming to be the father of APC in Cross River is delusional,” Obono-Obla stated. “By 2015, when President Buhari came to power, Cross River was already connected to the Centre with several key federal appointments.”
He recalled facilitating a 2015 visit by prominent PDP leaders, including Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, Prince Bassey Otu (now Governor), and Chief Anthony Ani (former Finance minister) to then President-elect Buhari, an effort that led to appointments and the siting of a federal polytechnic in Ugep.
According to Obono-Obla, that was the real socketing, not mere defections.
Obono-Obla also accused Ayade of rewarding only his loyalists after his defection, noting that those who built the APC in Cross River were largely sidelined while newcomers secured elective and appointive positions both at the state and federal levels.
The former presidential aide urged Ayade to stop distorting history, insisting that the APC’s success in Cross River State was a collective struggle, not the achievement of a single man.
