The Cross River State Elders Advisory Council has endorsed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor Bassey Edet Otu for second terms, declaring that the political leadership of the state must remain the prerogative of Cross Riverians. The endorsement formed part of resolutions reached at the Council’s inaugural formal meeting held on Saturday at Channel View Hotel, Calabar.
The gathering brought together notable Cross Riverians, including elder statesmen Dr. Fidelis Ugbo, Prof. Eyo Etim Nyong, former Military Administrator of Kwara State, Ntufam (Col.) P.A.M. Ogar (rtd.), and Eyo Nsa Whiley, with every part of the state represented through stakeholders from the three senatorial districts and across its political and community structures.
In a communiqué issued after exhaustive deliberations, the elders unequivocally rejected “any form of external imposition, undue political interference or attempt by individuals or interests outside the state to dictate the political choices and leadership of Cross River State.” They said the choice of who governs the state remained the collective right and democratic responsibility of Cross Riverians, while endorsing Tinubu and Otu based on their confidence in the leadership and direction of both administrations.
The Council resolved to defend the legitimate interests and dignity of Cross River whenever issues concerning its land, resources, development, boundary matters and other collective interests arise. It further resolved to advocate for the state at the national level on critical matters, including resource allocation, oil-producing status and regional restructuring, stressing that its voice must be informed by facts and expressed with dignity.
On governance, the elders adopted their Terms of Reference as the formal framework for the Council’s operations, positioning it as the Chief Adviser to the Cross River State Government. Its functions include strategic advisory services, feedback and monitoring, peace and stability, advocacy and representation, advice on critical state matters, and preservation of institutional memory and continuity.
The Council resolved to study the socio-economic and political situation in Cross River and provide timely advice on governance, policy formulation and implementation, while monitoring government interventions down to the level of ordinary citizens. It will also serve as a feedback mechanism to ensure that government programmes reflect a bottom-to-top approach.
The elders further resolved to promote peace, unity and reconciliation through engagement with traditional institutions, community leaders and other stakeholders, while functioning as an independent think-tank and reservoir of ideas capable of drawing on the collective wisdom and institutional memory of the state’s elder statesmen.
Addressing the gathering, Chairman of the Council and former Governor of Cross River State, Chief Clement Ebri, said members were not assembled merely because of their age or past positions, but because their experience constituted a reservoir of wisdom from which the state could draw. He urged them to provide counsel that was “thoughtful, objective and rooted in facts.”
Ebri said the Council must not be reduced to a political platform, but should become “a reservoir of ideas and a dependable source of independent, well-informed advice.” He also charged members to defend Cross River’s legitimate interests whenever challenged, while ensuring that the state’s voice was guided by wisdom and expressed with dignity.
The former governor commended Governor Otu for his administration’s efforts, particularly in infrastructure and other areas of development, urging the elders to encourage what was working while advising constructively where improvements were required. “Rome was not built in a day,” he said, stressing that transforming a state required time, patience, sacrifice and collective support.
In his welcome remarks, Chairman of the Cross River State Consultative Forum, Barr. Eyo Nsa Ekpo, described the gathering as “the beginning of a deliberate effort” to bring together some of the state’s finest minds and opinion holders to interrogate its past, properly situate the present and chart a progressive future.
Ekpo said the forum evolved from the Cross River South Consultative Forum established in 2023 and was committed to constructive engagement, citizen mobilisation, proper feedback mechanisms, competent leadership succession and continuity in government projects. He warned against abandoning viable projects whenever a new administration assumed office, saying such a practice wasted public resources and set the state backwards.
He called on members to “build bridges, not barriers” across Cross River, rise above ethnic and sectional considerations and support government with honest, unbiased and strategic advice, stressing that the collective responsibility of the elders was to help secure a more prosperous future for the state.
