A chieftain of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, and former chairman of the Labour Party in Cross River State, Austine Ibok, has defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.

Ibok, who announced his defection on Friday, also directed his supporters across the 196 wards in the state’s 18 local government areas to collapse their political structures into the APC.

He said his decision followed consultations with his family, political associates and supporters, as well as what he described as prevailing political realities and the interest of the state.

The former opposition chieftain cited what he described as a lack of cohesion, equity, justice, fairness and sincerity within his former party, particularly over zoning and other leadership decisions.

Ibok said his decision to support the Otu administration was based on what he described as its record in security, infrastructure, efforts to recover Cross River’s oil wells and the development of the Bakassi Deep Seaport Project.

“Our support is driven by performance, political reality, and the collective desire to secure a brighter future for Cross River State through effective and purposeful governance,” he said.

The national leader of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, Seriake Dickson, has attributed his refusal to join the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, to his unwillingness to support a political arrangement that could turn Nigeria into a one-party state.

Speaking when the management of Leadership Newspaper paid him a visit on Thursday, Dickson said the crisis and decline within his former party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, made him decide to establish a new political platform.

Reflecting on the political developments that led to the formation of the NDC, the former Bayelsa State governor stated that the decision was taken at a difficult period when the possibility of building a strong opposition party appeared uncertain.

According to him, the situation within the PDP influenced his decision to seek another political direction rather than move to the APC.

“I did not believe Nigeria should become a one-party state,” he said.

The lawmaker further attributed his decision to the need to preserve political competition and provide Nigerians with another platform through which they could participate in the democratic process.

He said that instead of joining an existing party, he and his political associates chose to build a new organisation that could compete with the ruling party, adding that the NDC had made considerable progress since its emergence.

“Months down the line, we have built a formidable party and a major opposition platform in Nigeria,” he added.