There are strong indications that all is not well in APC between men loyal to Prince Otu and Ben Ayade. Recall that the APC Governorship campaign flag-off which was earlier billed to take off last year was postponed Indefinitely without any cogent reason. The campaign flag-off which has been postponed thrice without any explanation from the leadership of the APC, appears to be an indication that Ben Ayade is serious about his decision not to release a dime for Prince Otu’s Governorship campaign.
According to a serving Commissioner in Ayade’s Government, who prefers to remain anonymous, the crisis between Ayade’s camp and Prince Otu started when the later secretly met with Tinubu in Abuja and tried to hijack the running of the presidential campaign in Cross River State, stressing that he is more popular and reliable than the Governor, coupled with the fact that he is the Gubernatorial Candidate of APC in Cross River State.
Ayade, who was displeased with the clandestine meeting, quickly arranged to be enlisted as part of Tinubu’s entourage to Chatham House through the help of Betta Edu. Upon return from UK, Ayade summoned Otu who denied castigating him before Tinubu. As a way of punishing Prince Otu and his men, Ayade vowed never to spend a dime in Otu’s campaign, urging him to go and source for funds for his campaign the same way he (Ayade) did in 2015, with the help of Tompolo.
Ayade was quoted to have said repeatedly that he is not interested in the Governorship election as he has a bigger fight against Senator Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe. It was further learnt that prominent APC Chieftains from the Southern Senatorial District loyal to Otu have been at the forefront of dialogue with Ayade to rescind his decision, forgive Otu and release funds for the campaign. The Campaign which ordinarily was supposed to kick off in U.J Esuene stadium was hijacked by Ben Ayade and taken to Ogoja as a way of sending more signals to Otu’s men that he (Ayade) is not interested in who succeeds him as Governor.
But Otu’s men especially from Odukpani Local Government have vowed to resist the Governor’s attempt to ridicule their son after pushing him forward as consensus Candidate of the Party and now trying to abandon him in the cold. As the drama continues to brew, Prince Otu who is also battling with his health, is rumoured to have sold off almost all his properties to attend to his failing health. The State Publicity Secretary of APC, Erasmus Ekpang has confirmed through a phone call that the Governorship flag-off slated to hold on Saturday, 21st January, remains tentative as the leadership of the Party is yet to receive a dime.
