Despite Ayade’s defection, Cross River remains PDP state, says Jubrin

Senator Walid Jubrin, Chairman, Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says Cross River will remain a PDP state in spite of Governor Ben Ayade’s defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Jubrin said this when he spoke with newsmen at the end of the board’s meeting in Abuja.
He said he was shocked by Ayade’s defection.
“This is annoying. Ayade is someone who has benefitted for five years from PDP and he is talking of going to another party,” he said.
Jubrin, however, said that the party would  organise a mega rally in Calabar to show that the state was still a PDP state.
He said the board discussed issues of national importance and other internal matters concerning the party, including invitation extended by the Economic and  Financial  Crimes  Commission (EFCC) to the party leaders on its finances.
Jubrin said that the party was only accountable to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and not EFCC.
“In the PDP, aggrieved members ventilate their grievances through a well-known party organs and not by force. This is more so when the issues involved have a regulatory bodies like INEC.
“INEC is the regulatory organ for all political parties and the PDP is inclusive.
“The PDP account has been audited by a reputable chartered accounting firm and the report is with INEC and the body has not raised any objection.
“It is constitutionally wrong for EFCC to intervene in an issue that is purely that of political parties,” he said.
Jubrin also blamed Mr Kassim Afegbua, a member of the party, who petitioned the EFCC for not exploring the party’s internal mechanism before submitting his petition.
He said that Afegbua ought to have used the opportunity of the PDP Constitution and internal mechanism before sending his petition.
“As members of the BoT, we have provisions in the constitution of the party on how to deal with the matters of the party.
“Why did Afegbua not bring the matter to the disciplinary committee of the party?”