By Citizen Agba Jalingo

Governor Ben Ayade, not long ago told all and sundry that his erstwhile party, PDP has pushed him to the wall and he was “sitting on the fence” and threatened the party that, if they make one more mistake, they will see a new Cross River State.

Unlike Governor Ayade who hardly keeps his word, this time, he made true his threat, came down from the fence, took a different lane and left PDP for APC yesterday in Calabar. Apart from the reasons Ayade himself put forward for leaving PDP, namely that; he is thrilled by Buhari’s credentials and wants to join him rebuild Nigeria and his desire to take Cross River back into national ruling party, many pundits have also adduced variegated grounds why he left the PDP. I cannot claim to know why Ayade left PDP, neither do I believe the reasons he gave. All he said was smoke screen for more sinister intention that time will unravel.

But what I know is that, on a general note, his departure from PDP spells a degree of good fortune for Cross River state. In the interest of the general good of our State, it is this move by the governor that will inject the needed impetus for a semblance of checks and balances in our state polity. In the end, it will help to fuel plurality. Let me break it down.

Immediately, the State House of Assembly will have a minority caucus. At least 5 members aren’t going with the governor to APC and there are prospects that even those that will follow the euphoria will retrace down the road as we approach 2023. These five will now have a minority leader in the House.

Consequently, we will not expect the House to be as calm and acquiesced as it is now. More information about government business will come out to the public as against the opacity with which things are done today, because the minority will become whistle blowers. Then again, if by stroke of negotiation, this minority can garner additional three votes from those who may retrace to become eight, the ruling APC will be unable to produce the two third majority needed to pass any bill.

Stakekholders like former Governor Imoke; who brought this whole thing on us in the first place, members of the NASS like Senator Sandy Onoh, Senator-Elect Jarigbe Agom, Hon. Daniel Asuquo amongst other PDP stalwarts who are not going with the governor, will also not fold their arms and stand akimbo. They will provide the impetus for what will now become the opposition to the ruling APC in the State. Most of this energy will be about 2023. The window to who occupies Peregrino House, post Ayade, will be drastically altered.

The perpetual trouble makers in APC in Cross River are waiting for Ayade. He is not the first big name to move into APC. Senator Ndoma Egba SAN, Senator Owan Enoh, Prince Jedy Agba, Senator Ita Giwa, Senator Prince Otu, all got into APC with fanfare and were unable to resolve the contradictions that have bedeviled the party in the State. And having failed fantastically in providing the necessary opposition to Ayade while he was in PDP, the same APC leaders are now all writing long letters congratulating and welcoming Ayade, whom most of them labelled ‘failure’, into their fold. His sins are now wiped away. Infact, he never had any sin. All his projects are awesome now.

But that is the categorical chicanery of the ruling class. The lesson for the rest of us is to understand that all this gerrymandering from either end, is not in the interest of the people of Cross River state. It is for the interest of these people to continue their hold on power. Public interest has strands of consistency but not so with these ones. Everywhere these people in power meet themselves, they are cool with their vices. They are not perturbed by our lamentations and desire for good governance.

They are contented with keeping us down as far as they find a political confluence to maintain their hold on power. So, it is the Cross River people that must take advantage of the opportunity that Ayade’s departure from PDP will avail and demand that APC must lead and PDP must provide opposition. The burgeoning media in the State must also continue to inflame the embers of watching what the two parties will do in the months ahead, particularly as we run up to 2023.

But las las, the events that have happened and will happen, after Ayade left the fence, should teach Cross Riverians a lesson on what to vote for in February 2023.

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