{"id":167016,"date":"2025-06-15T18:46:45","date_gmt":"2025-06-15T17:46:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/expect-more-defections-from-apc-says-cross-river-pdp-chair"},"modified":"2025-06-15T20:28:23","modified_gmt":"2025-06-15T19:28:23","slug":"expect-more-defections-from-apc-says-cross-river-pdp-chair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/expect-more-defections-from-apc-says-cross-river-pdp-chair","title":{"rendered":"Expect More Defections From APC Says Cross River PDP Chair"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. <\/strong><\/span>Following the defection of former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calabar, Professor Zana Akpagu, from the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Kakum, Obudu, northern Cross River State, the chairman of PDP in the state, Venatius Ikem, has stated that others would soon follow suit.<\/p>\n<p>Ikem noted that many had long been waiting for the right time to cross over, adding that several had approached him and consulted about their return to the party.<\/p>\n<p>He said Akpagu defected to PDP with a large number of his supporters from the Cross River northern district, including his former students who still hold him in high esteem.<\/p>\n<p>He further stated that Akpagu, who has previously served in government as a special adviser and even led the campaign team of the current governor, Bassey Otu, during the last general election, would bring his political weight to strengthen the party.<\/p>\n<p>He added that PDP still retains its structures, particularly in northern Cross River.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCross River northern district is largely impenetrable and formidable. With the return of Prof Akpagu, we have become even more formidable,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>In a telephone interview on Sunday, Prof Akpagu declared that he had returned and was unafraid of the so-called might of APC.<\/p>\n<p>He said such might could not intimidate politicians from other parties.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe so-called might of the APC will neither deter nor debar my people and supporters from casting their votes for him in the next general election. There\u2019s nothing like might. I\u2019m not afraid, but you have to take risks in life,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>On why he left APC, even as many dignitaries appear to be defecting from PDP and going the other way, Akpagu said: \u201cAn orchestra conductor doesn\u2019t face the audience; he backs the people. But that doesn\u2019t diminish his values or the musical output, yet the conductor remains the main man. I am not a multitude person. Besides, eagles don\u2019t flock in numbers; they go in singles. I have returned to PDP, my original home.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He asserted that most other politicians are PDP in spirit and in blood, except, perhaps, President Bola Tinubu, who has remained constant in one party.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Nigeria<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. Following the defection of former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calabar, Professor Zana Akpagu, from the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Kakum, Obudu, northern Cross River State, the chairman of PDP in the state, Venatius Ikem, has stated that others would soon follow suit. Ikem [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":167014,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,14],"tags":[34,649,7424,254,65],"class_list":["post-167016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-apc","tag-cross-river","tag-ikem","tag-nigeria","tag-pdp"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Expect More Defections From APC Says Cross River PDP Chair - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Following the defection of former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calabar, Professor Zana Akpagu, from the ruling A ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/expect-more-defections-from-apc-says-cross-river-pdp-chair\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Expect More Defections From APC Says Cross River PDP Chair\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Following the defection of former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calabar, Professor Zana Akpagu, from the ruling A ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/expect-more-defections-from-apc-says-cross-river-pdp-chair\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-15T17:46:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-15T19:28:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/06\/sm_1750003136.712398.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"740\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/expect-more-defections-from-apc-says-cross-river-pdp-chair#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/expect-more-defections-from-apc-says-cross-river-pdp-chair\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Expect More Defections From APC Says Cross River PDP Chair\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-15T17:46:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-15T19:28:23+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/expect-more-defections-from-apc-says-cross-river-pdp-chair\"},\"wordCount\":389,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/expect-more-defections-from-apc-says-cross-river-pdp-chair#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/06\/sm_1750003136.712398.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"APC\",\"Cross River\",\"Ikem\",\"Nigeria\",\"PDP\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/expect-more-defections-from-apc-says-cross-river-pdp-chair#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/expect-more-defections-from-apc-says-cross-river-pdp-chair\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/expect-more-defections-from-apc-says-cross-river-pdp-chair\",\"name\":\"Expect More Defections From APC Says Cross River PDP Chair - 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