Cleric endorses Otu for second term

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Cletus Ubun, has faulted the composition of the party’s 2027 presidential campaign council, arguing that experienced foundation members who have contributed to the party’s growth were being sidelined.
 
Ubun, a former APC chairman in Cross River State, said the composition of the council had exposed what he described as a broader pattern of exclusion of foundation members from the affairs of the party.
 
Speaking in an interview with The Guardian, Ubun said the campaign council should not become another avenue for patronage, but should be populated by members with proven capacity to deliver results for the party.
 
He said the current arrangement was particularly troubling because some members who had played significant roles in the party’s previous campaigns were being left out or assigned less strategic positions.
 
According to him, although it was unrealistic to expect every member of the APC to be appointed to the campaign council, competence and proven commitment should be the primary considerations in selecting those who would occupy key positions.
 
“We know everybody cannot be on the campaign council,” Ubun said. “But if anybody thinks that I don’t have the capacity, good, but give me something superior.”
 
He said the party should avoid placing experienced campaigners in subordinate positions while appointing less experienced persons to lead critical aspects of the presidential campaign.
 
“You don’t populate your first team with second-rate players. You don’t. It’s not done anywhere,” he said.
 
Ubun recalled his experience in the 2023 presidential campaign, particularly the performance of the South-South media team, which he said successfully confronted the opposition despite limited resources.

He questioned why the APC would want to dismantle or substantially alter a team that had performed effectively during the last presidential election instead of retaining its major players and strengthening it with additional competent members.
 
“Why do we want to go and start rejigging a team that did so well in the last outing?” he asked.
 
He stressed that his criticism was not about personal appointment, but about ensuring that the party assembled a campaign structure capable of effectively communicating its message and confronting the opposition ahead of the 2027 election.
 
Ubun said the stakes would be higher in 2027, with a stronger and more competitive opposition expected to participate in the presidential contest.

Meanwhile, the Territorial Archbishop of Calabar and Founding Patriarch of the Cross River State Christian Leaders Forum, Archbishop Josef Bassey, has endorsed Governor Bassey Otu for a second term, saying the administration has made significant progress in rebuilding the state since assuming office in May 2023.
 
Bassey, who spoke at a press briefing in Calabar, said his endorsement followed an assessment of the governor’s performance against the condition of the state he inherited.
 
“My standard has not changed; the evidence has,” he said. “Governor Bassey Otu has earned a second term.”
 
The cleric, who had previously criticised the immediate past administration, said Cross River was in a difficult condition when Otu assumed office, citing a domestic debt of about N204 billion, accumulated pension and gratuity obligations, dilapidated infrastructure and worsening security challenges.