Gov. Ayade is now undisputable leader of APC in Cross River, says Sen. Ndoma-Egba

“Cross River State is not an exception to this rule and Sen. Ndoma-Egba clearly knows and supports this position”

Former Senate Leader, Distinguished Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, says he is not contesting the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Cross River State with Governor Ben Ayade who defected from PDP to the party last week.

He said even before the defection of Ayade to APC he was never in contention with anybody for the leadership of the party in the state.

“In case the authors of the frivolous publication, in their haste to please their paymasters, do not know, it is standard practice in party politics to have a sitting Governor as the leader of the party in the State.

“Cross River State is not an exception to this rule and Sen. Ndoma-Egba clearly knows and supports this position,” Ndoma-Egba said.

In a statement by Ndoma-Egba and given to Persecondnews on Sunday, he debunked a media report that he was struggling with the governor over party leadership, wondering what those behind the fake report wanted to achieve.

Ndoma-Egaba said he never granted any press interview to react to the defection of Ayade other than the written statement he personally signed to congratulate and welcome the governor to APC.

The ex-Senate Leader’s rebuttal contained in a statement signed by his media manager, Sunny Udeh, reads: “Our attention has been drawn to a mischievous publication on some online platforms wherein Distinguished Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, CON, SAN, was quoted as declaring himself the leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Cross River State, while reacting to the defection of His Excellency, Senator Prof. Ben Ayade, Governor of Cross River State to the APC yesterday.

“We will ordinarily ignore this obviously mischievous attempt at portraying Sen. Ndoma-Egba in bad light but for the possibility of some readers being misled by the author and sponsors of the publication.

“Clearly, the objective is to paint the Senator as someone struggling for relevance and unhappy with Gov. Ayade’s entry into the APC, both of which are very far from the truth.

“To set the records straight, Sen. Ndoma-Egba issued a written statement personally signed by him yesterday, congratulating Gov. Ben Ayade for his bold decision to join the APC and welcoming him with open arms.

“That statement was widely published in the media, including Guardian, National Compass, AIT, etc. For the avoidance of doubt, he did not grant any oral interview to any media organization.

“It is public knowledge that even before the entry of Gov. Ayade to the APC, Sen. Ndoma-Egba was never in contention with anybody for the leadership of the party in Cross River State.

He said instead he had always advocated teamwork, inclusiveness, and internal democracy as the pivots on which any successful political party stands.

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“His interest remains contributing to building a stronger and vibrant APC that will deliver the dividends of democracy to Cross Riverians in particular, and Nigerians in general.

“Finally, Sen. Ndoma-Egba reaffirms the message of congratulations he issued yesterday to welcome Gov. Ayade to the APC and will work with the Governor to position the APC and Cross River State on the path of sustained growth and development,” the former PDP senator said.