The Neighbour 2 Neighbour (N2N) Grassroots Mobilisation Network has declared the re-election of Cross River State Governor, Bassey Edet Otu, a “task that must be done”, as it begins an intensive grassroots mobilisation campaign in Abi and Boki Local Government Areas.
The organisation also pledged to mobilise support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and all other candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 general elections.
The campaign featured the inauguration of ward and polling-unit coordinators in the two local government areas, with N2N officials urging members to take the message of government’s achievements to voters in their immediate communities.
Speaking at the Abi Local Government Council Secretariat on Friday, the group’s Director-General, Dr. Bobby Ekpeyong, challenged residents to interrogate the records of politicians seeking their votes rather than relying on political rhetoric.
Ekpeyong, who acknowledged that he previously worked for the Peoples Democratic Party, said his political support had shifted after what he described as the performance of the Otu administration.
“I have seen the light and have decided to throw my hat into the ring for Governor Bassey Otu because of what the incumbent has done in the area of employment and the recovery of our agricultural estates that were sold in the name of privatisation.”
He said the administration had recorded achievements in the recovery of oil assets, discovery of new oil blocks, revival of Tinapa, advancement of the Bakassi Deep Seaport, rehabilitation of public facilities, road construction and security.
Ekpeyong urged the people of Abi to give Otu another term, saying the Governor deserved the opportunity to consolidate his administration’s ongoing programmes.
At Boki, he said N2N was focused on grassroots enlightenment rather than financial inducement, urging members to become ambassadors of the administration in their respective communities.
He cited the Boki East-West Road, improvements at the Abu Ebam hospital and solar streetlighting projects in Bawop, Kakwagom, Okundi, Kachuan-Irruan and Kakwagom-Irruan as interventions members should communicate to the people.
He further urged the people of the Central Senatorial District to protect the state’s political rotation arrangement.
“As a member of Neighbour 2 Neighbour, Otu’s re-election is a task that must be done so that after 2031 power can return to Central Senatorial District in line with our zoning pattern.”
The N2N Director-General urged voters to demand scorecards from all candidates and ask them to demonstrate what they could do differently from the present administration.
“Time has gone for us to be led by the nose again because of the selfish interests of an individual or group of persons. We now know better and we stand for the truth, which is that Governor Bassey Otu has done well and should be returned,” he said.
The Director of Youth Mobilisation, Hon. Michael Kajang Obaji, called on young people to take the campaign to their peers, while the Director of Women Mobilisation, Dr. Silo Ekpenyong, urged women to mobilise massively for the APC.
In a similar vein, the Abi Local Government Coordinator, Hon. Kelvin Ezor, said N2N was committed to “Operation Show Your Strength and Protect Your Votes,” while the Special Adviser on Revenue to the Council Chairman, Hon. Ebong Pius Innocent, cited road projects and welfare interventions as evidence of the administration’s impact in Abi.
Innocent said more than 1,000 Abi residents, including farmers, had benefited from welfare packages and urged the people to reciprocate the interventions at the polls.
He summed up the group’s confidence in Otu’s re-election in emphatic terms: “Only the second coming of Jesus Christ will stop Governor Otu’s re-election in 2027.”
By Kingsley Agim
