Cross River state governor, Senator Bassey Otu, has challenged his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) to grab more states in the South South in order for the region to align with the Federal Government.
He made the advocacy during the APC South-South Zonal Executives meeting in Calabar.
“It is important to muster more and more states to the ruling APC so that our zone would be politically warm within the APC family.
“It is about endearing the people to the powerful pedigree of the actualization of our hope through passionate empathy for changing livelihood and leveraging the environment for a better today and greater tomorrow,” Otu said.
The governor, who is also the coordinator of the APC in the South-South geopolitical zone, affirmed that Edo State cannot escape the onslaught with the winning strategy encapsulated in the ‘Renewed Hope’ agenda of the Tinubu-led administration, admitting that “if we did it in Imo state gubernatorial polls, we can replicate same in Edo state.”
He called on the APC to consider the South-South for critical appointments, as only this will strengthen the party in the region as well as reward deserving party faithful.
He commended Tinubu on the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, saying such development would strengthen socio-economic ties between South West and South-South regions.
At the Exco zonal meeting were the party National Vice Chairman, South South, Dr. Victor Gaidom, Minister of Aviation, Mr. Festus Keyamo, former Deputy Senate President, Omo Agege, Cross River State Deputy governor, Dr. Peter Odey, former Senate Majority Leader, Senator Ndoma Egba, APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, Cross River State APC Chairman, Barrister Alphonsus Eba, among others.
In his remarks, the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, thanked God for putting the South-South in the political scheme of things in the present dispensation, adding that President Bola Tinubu holds the zone dearly in his administration, especially with the commencement of work on the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway Project.
He said the zonal meeting was an opportunity for the APC stakeholders in the South-South to congratulate themselves on their immense contribution to the emergence of the Tinubu-led administration, attributing the return of the Senate Presidency to the zone, 45 years after Joseph Wayas, to commitment and conviction to turn things around for the nation.
“Forty-five years after Senator Joseph Wayas, it has pleased God to have me, a South-southerner, to be Senate President. My being here should be an impetus for the region to further be linked to the centre,” he stated.
Akpabio also hailed Cross River governor, Senator Bassey Otu for his impactful leadership in his first year in office, and leading the charge for a new Cross River State, describing his strides as a show of direction in leadership.
He encouraged party faithful in the South-South to continue to trust the present administration, work hard to take over the entire zone, while expressing optimism that in no distant time, APC would have a second governor in the South-South – after the party’s imminent victory at the forthcoming Edo State gubernatorial election.
Akpabio also revealed that the federal government has granted approval for the commencement of work on the Calabar axis for the construction of the six lane Lagos-Calabar coastal highway, hinting that himself and the Minister of Works will be in Calabar to flag-off the project in a fortnight.
Dr. Giadom stated that the essence of the meeting was to mobilise leadership at various levels to support the federal government’s renewed hope agenda, as well as brainstorm ahead of the Edo State governorship election, and the APC’s eventual takeover of the entire zone.
