Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River State on Thursday announced that he was leaving the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Mr Ayade was, until his defection, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party.

The announcement was made during a meeting with six APC governors who visited him at the Government House.

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Last year, Governor David Umahi dumped the PDP for the APC, the party controlling the central government with Governor Nyesom Wike linking Mr Umahi’s defection to his “presidential bid.”

“My friend, Umahi, wants to be president. But that does not mean that you have to blackmail your party and tell lies to the people,” explained Mr Wike.

It was not clear at the time of reporting the reason Mr Ayade dumped the PDP for the APC.