Governors of Ebonyi and Cross River states, Chief David Umahi and Prof Ben Ayade have denied an online media report claiming they are making plans to dump the Peoples Demo- cratic Party (PDP) and join the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The governors’ denial came on the heels of a trending report in a number of online media which alleged that they and their counterpart in Enugu, Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi as well as the Senate Minority Leader, Godswill Akpabio were making plans to defect to the APC.
The online media claimed that a top presidency source which preferred anonymity gave it the hint on the development.
Speaking through his Chief Press Secretary, Emmanuel Uzor, the Ebonyi governor described the rumour as “laughable.”
He added: “So, what they are saying concerning defection is just to make people believe that they are still on ground; they are no longer on ground.
The governor of Ebonyi State, Chief David Umahi, made it point-blank before that he has never mulled joining the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“The reason is that he has done well as a party Chairman, Deputy Governor, and now as Governor. And the PDP is on ground. And there is no reason joining the APC. It is just a wishful thinking. What APC does now is that they are wishing that the governor should join them.
“They are wooing him and they wish he joins them because of the monumental developments and what he has achieved on ground. Umahi has become like an idol to Ebonyi people.
So, following him is like a religion. So, they are only wishing that he would join them.
“This is the second time the rumour is coming up and this is the second time we are trying to dispel the rumour; that it is not possible, it is laughable and ridiculous to even think that the Ebonyi governor will join a party that is factionalised along so many strange lines.
“If I may ask, which faction will he join? Is it the faction that is loyal to a former governor and now a
minister or is it the faction that is loyal to one senator or is it the other faction?
“PDP is one united family; APC is divided. So, nobody will leave where there is peace to where there is crisis. I want Nigerians to disregard the rumour because it is just a wishful thinking. The governor is not going anywhere. He is in PDP and will remain in PDP.
“It is one of the propaganda that the APC deploys whenever they are sinking. They started it in 2015.
Probably, Nigerians are getting wiser today. APC is caught in its own web of lying and those who were behind the lying machine are now retracing their steps; abandoning the party.
“This is evident in the recent defection of the spokesman of the party. So, the party as it stands now is more or less a labyrinth of crisis.
Their condition is like aborted pregnancy.” Also, the Cross River governor, Prof Ayade said there was absolutely no truth in the online media report.
In a statement, his Chief Press Secretary, Christian Ita said it was the fertile imagination of the author of the report.
He said: “The governor has a relationship with the president based on governance. So there is a need for us as a people to understand that governance is different from politics. Ben Ayade is a committed PDP member.”
