Ayade Ensured My Return To PDP Yet Exited – Donald Duke

• The Former Governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke says Governor Ben Ayade encouraged him to return to PDP but left afterward.

EkoHotBlog reports that the former Governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke, said he was indifferent to the recent exit of the current State Governor, Ben Ayade, from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Duke, in a statement, said he returned to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) close to a year ago, adding that he never left the ideals of the party, even when he was away.

The statement read, “Dear Friends, a lot is being said about my return to the PDP. Truth is, I reunited with the party almost a year ago now, but in spirit never left the ideals for which the party was founded upon.”

He described the defection of the governor as unfortunate, stressing that Ayade had constantly encouraged him to re-join the party, but now has cause to leave.

Duke said, “This is a rather unfortunate decision, which I neither support nor condemn, as I’m not privy to the details except his complaints of being stifled and unappreciated by the leadership of the party and certain elements of Cross River state origin in Abuja.”

He narrated how he and the governor while in their mid-thirties were buoyed by optimism and faith in the state and the nation, which led them and a few others to a plunge into the unknown world of politics.

Duke stated that by 2007, the state was perhaps the most entirely PDP state in Nigeria, noting that however that post-2007, the party’s fortune started declining.

According to him, an autocratic leadership style emerged, communication with the party’s followers declined and emergence in the party was determined largely not by the party constitution or structures but by the whims of the state’s chief executive.

He noted that this was the structure that Ayade inherited and is the cause of the party’s current state.

Duke said, “The very top-down political style we fought against prior 1999, instead of consultation, accommodation and inclusion reared its head to the extent that founding members of the party in the state including former state chairmen, senators, members of the National Assembly and I, over time, opted out and this attrition has continued unabated to the extent that the Governor himself has left to seek pasture elsewhere.”

The former governor, however, called for the provision of the same opportunities that democratic inclusion afforded them as young politicians to other young people as they prepare to take over the mantle of leadership.

He stated, “It is my hope that we all have learnt the lessons of the past couple of years. Our nation begs for sincere and committed leadership. We can and must do better.

“There is no room nor time for egoistic pandering but selfless service and this is what the times deserve.”

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