Notable Cross River politicians to join APC soon – Chairman

The Cross River chapter of the All Progressives Congress has said it expects to see a mass influx of politicians into the party in the state.

This was made known by Sen. Mathew Mbu, the chairman of the state APC caretaker committee on Tuesday, May 25 at the National Secretariat in Abuja.

Mbu said the defection of Gov. Ben Ayade from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the party would lead to mass defection of frontline politicians in the state.

He said among those expected were legislators at both state and National Assembly as well as other allies of the governor.

“When they gave me the position of chairman of the state caretaker committee, the party was divided and needed a unifier.

“They asked me to unite the party and to turn the state into an APC one come 2023.

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“In fact, our aim was to get the state in 2023 but to our pleasant surprise, it came earlier than we thought,”he said.

Mbu, however, faulted some reports that APC faithful in the state were not happy with Ayade’s defection to the party.

He described the reports as baseless, saying that it should be disregarded.

“I know that some people were not happy with his coming, but concerning the position of the state lawmakers who have refused to follow him, everything will fall in line in due course.

“When I was made the chairman, somebody said the party will become an APC state but they did not believe him.

“But I tell you that APC has come to stay in Cross River and everybody in the state is happy about this,” Mbu said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Gov. Ayade while announcing his defection to the APC, recently, said he took the decision to align with the center.

He said the decision was also taken to enable him join hands with President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC to build a better Nigeria.