Ayade insists on southern presidency
Ben Ayade, the governor of Cross Rivers, has restated his call on the All Progressives Congress (APC) to hand its presidential ticket to a southern aspirant.
He stated this when presidential hopeful Bola Tinubu visited him in Calabar.
Tinubu also consulted party delegates at his meeting with them, held at the Transcorps Hotel, Calabar.
Ayade said: “Zoning is a provision of our constitution to ensure balancing. It should not be about ethnic or regional domination but balancing. It’s the turn of Southern Nigeria in 2023.”
The governor added that Nigeria is in dire need of change and a new way of doing things. According to him, it is regrettable that Nigeria “is still importing petrol to meet its local demand,” despite being an oil producing nation.
He described Tinubu as ‘a trans-generational leader and political strategist who has the capacity, experience and exposure to lead the country’.
Ayade further says that he believes history will be kind to Tinubu, being the man who propelled the APC to power in 2015 and his being a cornerstone of APC’s success.
Responding, Tinubu said he respects Ayade as the he does the same to him.
“Mine is to respect you as you respect me.”
“I appeal to you as your senior brother and the first to declare his intention, not to endorse me today, but when you get to Abuja, you can endorse me fully.
“We must have that unity of purpose. We must work together, not only for the unity and economic development of Cross Rivers but also for the country. We owe that to the present and future generations.”
Tinubu promised to work with the state for the full development of Calabar Port if elected president.
The presidential hopeful lamented the loss of the Bakassi Peninsula during his visit to the Obong of Calabar and the APC delegates.
He promised to speed up the development of the Calabar seaport, the rehabilitation and resettlement of victims of Bakassi peninsula cession.
On Tinubu’s entourage were Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje; Senator Tanko Al-Makura; Senator Kashim Shettima; former Senate Leader Victor Ndoma-Egba; presidential aide Mallam Yau Darazo, and Chairman of Tertiary Education Fund (TETFUND), Alhaji Kashim Ibrahim-Imam.
