By Kelvin Ololo
In a major political shift, the Senator representing Cross River Northern Senatorial District, Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe, has defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
According to the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), the defection was formalized during a closed-door meeting with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Tuesday, October 21, 2025.
Senator Jarigbe was accompanied to the meeting by the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, and was received by the President alongside Senator Kaila Dahuwa, who also joined the ruling party.
Reliable sources disclosed that, Senator Jarigbe’s move took many of his supporters by surprise, describing it as a devastating blow to the PDP in Cross River State. Jarigbe had been widely regarded as one of the most resilient opposition figures in the northern senatorial district and within the state’s political landscape.
However, some political analysts have described the defection as a strategic decision aimed at aligning with the Tinubu administration’s agenda of economic reform and national renewal under the Renewed Hope Initiative.
His defection comes barely four months after Hon. Peter Akpanke, the member representing Obanliku/Bekwarra/Obudu Federal Constituency, also left the PDP for the APC, a development that further weakens the opposition’s structure in Cross River State.
