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 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, reacting to Ayade’s comments made at the Margaret Ekpo International Airport, Calabar, on Friday, described the former governor’s lamentation as “self-inflicted.”
He said Ayade weakened his own political standing within the APC when he chose to contest the party’s 2022 presidential primary despite knowing his chances of success were slim.
“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.”
Oluohu further alleged that Ayade withheld campaign funds during the 2023 general elections, a development 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 berated Ayade’s repeated claim that he “socketed” Cross River State to the political centre, describing such a statement as “bunkum, balderdash and despicable revisionism.”
According to him, the APC had long established its presence in Cross River before Ayade’s defection in 2020, crediting founding members such as Alex Irek, Ntufam Hilliard Etta, Cletus Obun, Bassey Iso, himself and others for building the party in the state as far back 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 former PDP leaders, including Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, Prince Bassey Otu (now Governor), and Chief Anthony Ani (former Finance Minister), to then President-elect Muhammadu Buhari — an engagement he said led to major federal appointments and the establishment of a federal polytechnic in Ugep.
According to Obono-Obla, “That was the real socketing, not mere defections.”
He also accused Ayade of rewarding only his loyalists after joining the APC, sidelining those who had worked to build the party in the state while newcomers secured key elective and appointive positions both at the state and federal levels.
The former presidential aide urged Ayade to stop distorting the party’s history, insisting that the APC’s growth and success in Cross River State were products of collective effort, not the accomplishment of a single individual.
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