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From Aniekan Aniekan, Calabar
Governor Bassey Otu has outlined plans to establish industrial parks across the three senatorial districts of Cross River State as part of his second-term agenda to move the state from recovery to wealth creation.
Otu disclosed this in Calabar while inaugurating the Cross River All Progressives Congress (APC) Campaign Council for the 2027 general elections.
He said the parks would serve as hubs for manufacturing, agro-processing and entrepreneurship to create jobs and boost local production.
Presenting his midterm scorecard under the People First Agenda, Otu said his administration had cut the inherited domestic debt of over N204 billion by more than N70 billion without new loans, bringing it to N132.3 billion as of March 2026, while internally generated revenue (IGR) rose from N21.1 billion in 2022 to N46.3 billion in 2024.
He listed the recovery of Tinapa from the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), nearly N1 billion from Etung Cocoa Estates, the revival of Obudu Cargo Airport, the concessioning of the Garment Factory and Obudu Ranch, the expansion of Cally Air and the payment of gratuities after 18 years as evidence of recovery.
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“Our second term will turn recovered assets into productive enterprises, complete major infrastructure projects, expand youth and agricultural programmes and establish industrial parks across the three senatorial districts,” he said.
He charged the council to take the message to the 18 local government areas (LGAs) and 196 wards, saying: “You do not change a farmer who has cleared the farm just when it is time to plant.”
The Director General of the Cross River State APC Campaign Council, Senator Stephen Odey, vowed to defeat the opposition in the 2027 general elections.
He also pledged to take the campaign from the creeks of Bakassi Local Government Area to the hills of Obanliku and to smoke out the opposition in the state.
The State Chairman of the party, Christopher Ettah, said the APC had no real opposition in Cross River but warned against complacency and internal betrayal.
He urged members of the campaign council to confront the electorate with the facts of what the administration had achieved.
