I joined APC for Cross River, says Ayade

Gov. Ben Ayade of Cross River on Thursday, said he joined the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the benefit of the state.

Ayade said this while addressing the youths under the aegis of Coalition of APC Support Groups who held a rally to welcome him to the party at the governor’s office in Calabar.

According to him, a party is an appropriate vehicle that will bring full economic benefits to the state, which he said is the APC.

“We have to re-sucket into the centre to drive the value of governance into the state, where our interest will be better served,” he said.

Ayade said that Cross River has a lot of mineral resources, but the resources required to exploit the hydrocarbons were beyond the capacity of the state.

He added that aligning with the party at the centre would bring federal assistance to the state.

He lamented that Cross River was economically disadvantaged, noting that the state is the 35th in terms of revenue allocation received from the Federal Government.

“The state does not have reasonable allocation. We are not part of the 18 per cent derivation. We are not part of Niger Delta Development Commission, we don’t have oil,” he said.

Ayade, who said he expanded government to accommodate 38,000 young people, urged the youths to go and register as APC members in their respective wards.