By Ita Williams
Cross River State Governor, Senator Bassey Edet Otu, has outlined an economic transformation agenda for a possible second term, placing industrialisation, wealth creation, employment generation and private sector investment at the centre of his administration’s proposed next phase of governance.
The Governor unveiled the agenda on Saturday, October 31, 2026, at the inauguration of the All Progressives Congress Governorship Campaign Council at the party’s state secretariat in Calabar. He urged members to communicate the administration’s development priorities and achievements to the electorate.
Reflecting on his administration’s first term, Otu described it as a period devoted to recovery, institutional restoration and the rebuilding of public confidence. He said the government had confronted inherited challenges, restored abandoned assets and strengthened security and economic administration.
He maintained that the proposed second term would be defined by the conversion of restored public assets and ongoing infrastructure investments into productive economic activities capable of improving living standards.
“The first term was about clearing the bush and laying the foundation. The second term will be about building the house and filling it with prosperity,” he said.
A major component of the proposed transformation is the repositioning of Tinapa Business and Leisure Resort as an economic hub. The governor said the facility would be developed to accommodate logistics, technology, entertainment and manufacturing activities, with the potential to generate employment and stimulate private investment.
The governor also identified the recovery of Cross River’s oil wells and the pursuit of the Bakassi Deep Sea Port as strategic priorities. He said the anticipated economic benefits should support education through scholarships, strengthen primary healthcare, improve agricultural productivity and expand the state’s export capacity.
Infrastructure development would include the completion of the Obudu Cargo Airport and Ranch dual carriageway, alongside strategic road connections. Otu specifically identified the Calabar-Odukpani-Ugep-Ogoja and Calabar-Itu-Uyo-Oron corridors as important links for agricultural transportation, trade and regional economic integration.
Agriculture, he said, would be strengthened through increased production of cocoa, rice, potatoes, palm produce and cassava. The administration intends to build on its distribution of improved seedlings, agricultural machinery and other farm inputs to develop an integrated value chain that supports food security and agro-processing.
The governor also outlined an expanded youth empowerment programme involving enterprise grants, agricultural support and opportunities in the technology, creative and hospitality industries.
He said the policy direction was intended to encourage entrepreneurship and enable young people to become employers of labour.
In the public service, Otu announced that the second tranche of gratuity payments to retired workers was expected in November. He also disclosed plans for comprehensive civil service digitisation and the establishment of an industrial park in each of the state’s three senatorial districts.
On fiscal management, the governor said his administration had repaid more than N70bn from an inherited domestic debt exceeding N204bn, leaving approximately N132bn outstanding as of March 2026.
He further reported that internally generated revenue increased from N21.1bn in 2022 to N31.56bn in 2023 and N46bn in 2024, attributing the growth to revenue reforms and automation.
Among other interventions, he cited the recovery of the Cross River Leasing Company, which he said employs more than 600 residents, the restoration of over 3,000 local government workers to employment and the commencement of gratuity payments to pensioners.
He also highlighted improvements in security, the expansion of fibre-optic infrastructure beyond 200 kilometres in Calabar and ICT training for over 600 residents.
Addressing the campaign council, Otu urged members to present verifiable achievements and avoid personal attacks during the campaign.
“We have not finished the work, but we have proven that we can do the work,” he said, adding that the administration’s next phase should be judged by its capacity to generate employment, stimulate businesses, increase household incomes and create lasting economic value.
He also reaffirmed support for President Tinubu and called for mobilisation ahead of the President’s November 2 visit to the state.
