Politics
2023: I’ll Support Jonathan If APC Presents Him As Flagbearer – Ayade
GOVERNOR Benedict Ayade of Cross River State has pledged to support former President Goodluck Jonathan if the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, presents him as the party’s flagbearer for the 2023 election.
Governor Ayade stated this while briefing State House correspondents after he met behind closed doors with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He announced that he had secured the President’s nod to hold consultations over his own presidential ambition.
Fielding questions on whether he would contest the APC presidential primaries against Dr. Jonathan decides to run for president, Ayade said he has respect for the former president, adding that if it is the decision of the APC to field the former President, he would support him.
The governor explained that he was at the Presidential Villa to seek direction from Buhari on how to align in the run up to the 2023 poll, noting that he would do whatever the President directs.
He pointed out that he did not tell President Buhari that he wanted to join the presidential race as he observed that it was not decent telling an office holder that one was interested in taking over his office.
He, however, said, the President expressed delight that he did not speak of his desire to succeed him in office but gave him the go-ahead to hold consultations on the matter while he (Buhari) watches him.
Ayade went on to spell out his programme of action for the country if he becomes the president next year, stressing that his administration would concentrate on three key areas, security, employment, and economy.
Asked about his chances against Jonathan should the former President join the race, Ayade stated: “I have great respect for President Jonathan. So, I have no challenges whatsoever.
“I believe that the party leadership will decide the appropriate candidate that will take our party to victory and so if you heard me well, I am just part of the family, absolutely loyal to the President, seeking to run for president and I’m running.
“At any point in time the political leadership of my party, the APC, feels that President Jonathan is the appropriate candidate that will take us to victory, I will turn my support for him.
“I am never ever going to fight the establishment, the institution, the aristocracy, the spiritual vortex of which God has placed a leader on the country. I will never question the powers of the leader of the country.
“I have never played the politics of antagonism or fights. If you know how I became governor, I became governor by offering to support whoever the governor wants. By a stroke of luck, I became the candidate. The same token… I’m only here to support the President’s candidate and by a stroke of luck he said you to go there and join the race.”
The governor reiterated his position that the next governor of Cross River State will come from the Southern Senatorial District.
He said he would not play God by anointing his successor, declaring that whoever will emerge would come through the democratic process.
Details later..
The Rivers State House of Assembly, led by Speaker Martin Amaewhule, has initiated impeachment proceedings against Governor Siminalayi Fubara and Deputy Ngozi Odu, issuing them a seven-day notice to respond to allegations of gross misconduct.
The Assembly cited eight specific allegations of gross misconduct as the basis for the move.
This is the third time Fubara and Odu would be facing impeachment proceedings from the Assembly since coming to office in 2023.
Attempts to impeach them in 2023 and 2025, amid political feuds between the Governor and his predecessor and erstwhile political god-father, now Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, had been halted by presidential intervention.
Here are the allegations below:
1. Reckless and unconstitutional expenditure of public funds
2. Unconstitutional misappropriation of public funds
3. Hindering the Rivers Assembly from performing its constitutional duties
4. Illegal appointments of persons without screening by the House of Assembly as provided by the Constitution
5. Seizure of salaries and funds meant for Assembly members
6. Seizure of salaries of the clerk of the Rivers House of Assembly, Emeka Amadi
7. Refusal to implement provisions of the Constitution on financial autonomy of the legislature and the judiciary
8. Withholding of funds meant for the running of the Rivers House of Assembly Service Commission and hindering its activities
Lilian Adebayo, the wife of the 2023 presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party, has said that the party will unseat the ruling All Progressive Party at the 2027 election if Nigerians are true to themselves.
Mrs Adebayo made this assertion known on Wednesday during an interview with journalists after an event in Abuja.
According to her, the opposition party has overcome its crisis after the expulsion of its former chairman, Shehu Gabam and others.
She said Nigerians should vote the APC out in the 2027 general election due to the hardship the party has plunged citizens into.
“There is always a crisis in the party; the SPD has been able to handle its own. The problems in the party have been resolved.
“He has a great chance of winning the election if Nigerians are honest with themselves. If Nigerians think that the ones they consistently vote for would move the country forward, they live in denial,” she concerning the husband.
Recall that SDP recently expelled Gabam and other party executives.
The party’s state chairmen on Wednesday urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the police to investigate Gabam over alleged misappropriation.
In a significant political move, Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah officially defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Tuesday, October 14, 2025.
Mbah announced his decision during a televised broadcast in Enugu after weeks of speculation.
He said, “Today, after a long reflection, we have made the decision to leave the Peoples Democratic Party and join the All Progressives Congress.”
Mbah explained that his decision to join the PDP was informed by the need to reshape Enugu and reorganise the politics of the state.
“Today, I stand before you to announce a break from the past and to share a decision that will shape the road ahead. This concerns our values, how we organize ourselves politically and how we secure the future of our project and our people.
“Leadership sometimes demands painful decisions in the service of higher principles and goals. And there comes a time, when everyone must make a bold choice to determine their destiny.”
Ahead of the governor’s defection, all members of his cabinet had on joined the ruling party.
Governor Mbah’s Senior Media Aide, Dan Nwomeh, confirmed the mass defection in a video posted on his social media handles on Monday. In the video, several government officials were seen openly declaring their allegiance to the APC, chanting praises for President Bola Tinubu and affirming their commitment to the new party.
“Enugu State Cabinet Members join the APC with full chest along with Governor PN Mbah,” Nwomeh stated.
The officials, including commissioners and top aides, could be heard in the video declaring, “We are now in APC; tomorrow is here; it is APC all the way; it is Jagaban all the way; from top to bottom.”
The collective defection marks a significant political shift in Enugu State, which has been a PDP stronghold since 1999.
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