Ayade’s Vision Motivated My Defection to APC, Says Ita-Giwa

By Sunday Okobi

Former Presidential Adviser on National Assembly Matters and the leader of the Bakassi people, Senator Florence Ita-Giwa, yesterday gave reasons why she defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) with the Cross River Governor, Prof. Benjamin Ayade, recently.

In her response to inquiry on her defection to the APC as well as accepting the ambassadorial position given her by the governor, Ita-Giwa stated that the vision that would lift her people and state out of perennial poverty were all she needed to support and defect with the governor to the APC.

She added that it was incumbent on her part to do all in her power to ameliorate the hardship her people are going through, saying: “In doing this, I don’t mind being occasionally misunderstood by people who do not feel the pinch.”

The former senator stated that she would not hesitate to do all she can to promote the state and its industrial revolution, “which was why she accepted to be the Cross River State Ambassador for Industrial Projects, even at the risk of being mocked by less discerning pundits.”

“At 75, nothing will please me more than to relax and enjoy my celebrity status, attend events in eye-popping outfits and so on, but when a digital-driven governor like Ayade comes along with such verve and vision that will lift my people and the state out of perennial poverty, I am left with no other option than to support him.

“Cross River State has had to bear the brunt of many economic setbacks; the loss of our oil fields, then more poignantly to me personally was the ceding of Bakassi to Cameroon.

“In my position as a leader, it is incumbent on me to do all in my powers to ameliorate the hardship my people are going through. In doing this, I don’t mind being occasionally misunderstood by people who do not feel the pinch.

“What you described as ‘mimicry’ is what I know to be the solution to my state’s perennial struggle with poverty and underdevelopment. Industrialisation holds the key to unlocking the vast potential of my people and the state.

“I will therefore not hesitate to do all that I can to promote it, which is why I accepted to be the Cross River State ambassador for Industrial Projects, even at the risk of being mocked.

“By the special grace of God, over the years I have amassed tons of goodwill both nationally and internationally, and I believe that now is the time to put it to good use on behalf of my state. I fully intend to give this assignment my best, as I see it as the only path to the economic liberation of my people.”