Professor Ivara Ejemot Esu, the Deputy Governor of Cross River state, has officially dumped his membership of the Peoples Democratic Party and joined the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The deputy governor’s official defection comes days after his principal, Ben Ayade, joined the ruling party.
The deputy governor said he decided to make his defection official on Monday, May 24, to stop speculations that he did not follow Governor Ayade to the APC.
“Shortly after my Principal announced his defection, I went to my ward, Agwagune/Okurike in Biase Local Government Area to formally register as a member of the All Progressive Congress (APC) on May 20, 2021, and was issued a temporary registration slip while I await the permanent membership card which is in process.
“My decision to move along with my Principal, Senator Professor Ben Ayade was my free decision and necessitated by my desire to support and corporate with him to ensure that his aggressive industrialization and development agenda for the state is achieved”.
The deputy governor while advising Cross Riverians following his defection said: “Nobody should be forced against his/her will to make a decision as for which party to belong, I have been part of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) from inception in 1998, it’s not just easy to walk away, but people should put several factors into consideration before making a decision, let there be freedom of choice to avoid crisis situation in the polity.
“No doubt State Government under PDP has done so much in terms of development projects and this defection will not affect the ongoing developmental strides of Governor Ben Ayade’s agenda in the state, rather it will facilitate the timely completion of projects already embarked upon before the end of this administration.”
He however appealed to Cross Riverians to live peaceably regardless of their political divide.
