A former Cross River State Governor, Ben Ayade, has said President Bola Tinubu asked him to withdraw from the Cross River Northern senatorial district race.

Mr Ayade said he accepted Mr Tinubu’s arrangement with “tears of ill treatment and agony.”

The former governor, in a Facebook post on Monday, said the decision followed a recent high-level consultation with the president in Abuja.

“Recall I was invited to return to Abuja for a high level national consultation with the presidency. From the sequence of events that followed my return, Mr President wants me to withhold my Senate ambition. I yield to his request even as I pour tears of ill treatment and agony,” Mr Ayade said.

Mr Ayade stated that he believed Mr Tinubu was unaware that the directive to withdraw from his senatorial district race would benefit those who had turned churches against him and the All Progressives Congress (APC) over the president’s 2023 Muslim-Muslim ticket.

He added that the beneficiary of Mr Tinubu’s directive was responsible for an alleged claim that Cross River State would be transformed into an Islam-based state during the last election.

“I trust that Mr President may not be aware that the people who turned our churches against Ayade and all of us in APC over the Muslim-Muslim ticket and accused us of islamisation of Cross River State are the beneficiaries of his instruction,” the former governor said.

“Mr President may not be aware that the beneficiaries of his order are people armed against us with guns and machetes in the collation centres (police records available) on the day of Mr President’s election.”

“Yielding ticket to a newest entrant from opposition just under five months is a spiritual murder that cannot go unaddressed by our father in heaven,” he added.

Recalling his contributions to the APC, Mr Ayade said he was the first governor in the South South region to build the APC and that he delivered 40,000 votes to surpass the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Cross River State.

“For over three years, I have been sidelined without appointment. I donated generously to the national convention, gave out vehicles and motorbikes to the party and I am currently embarked on a free transportation scheme as campaign support for the president come 2027,” Mr Ayade stated.

“Mr President may recall that when I decamped to APC, I was the first APC governor to ask that Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu be given the right of first refusal as our 2023 presidential candidate. Mr President would recall that Ayade is the originator of the mantra that “If Tinubu Can Fix Lagos, Tinubu can Fix Nigeria,” he added.

He expressed confidence that Mr Tinubu would reconsider his directive if properly informed that the beneficiary of his directive would be serving a fourth term as representative of Cross River Northern senatorial district.

Committing his political journey into God’s hands, Mr Ayade recalled that he was similarly directed to withdraw from the Senate race in 2007 and governorship race in 2015.

“Indeed, I withdrew in both instances without question but at God’s own time, I became a senator and also a two-term governor. I believe in destiny and the hand of God,” he said.

Mr Ayade said while he cannot question the president’s authority, he is prepared to challenge Mr Tinubu’s conscience, insisting that he is deserving of a place in the president’s administration.

“It is better we err on the side of caution than to be seen to flaunt the order of Mr president. I dare not question his authority but I challenge his conscience. I genuinely worked for him and I therefore deserve a place in his administration,” he noted.

The former governor cautioned his supporters against purchasing the APC nomination form, adding that such an action would constitute a disrespect to Mr Tinubu’s order.

“Thank you so much for your organic support and I do not take it for granted. We are together now and forever. Let us be patient with Mr president until our matter is resolved,” he said.