I joined APC to make Buhari government help Cross River people — Ben Ayade

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

Mr Ayade said this while addressing the youth 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.

The governor said the APC was the “appropriate vehicle that will bring full economic benefits to the state.”

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

Mr Ayade said that Cross River has a lot of mineral resources, but the resources required to explore 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 13 per cent derivation. We are not part of Niger Delta Development Commission, we don’t have oil,” he said.

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