Otu says Cross River has cut domestic debt by ₦70bn, launches 2027 campaign council
- Governor Bassey Otu says Cross River has paid down over ₦70bn of the domestic debt it inherited in 2023.
- He put the balance at about ₦132.3bn as of March 2026 and said no new loans were taken.
- Otu spoke in Calabar while inaugurating the APC campaign council for the 2027 elections.
Cross River State has reduced the domestic debt it inherited in 2023 by more than ₦70 billion, Governor Bassey Otu said on Saturday, putting the balance at roughly ₦132.3 billion as of March 2026.
Otu, who spoke in Calabar while inaugurating the state's All Progressives Congress (APC) campaign council for the 2027 elections, said the reduction was achieved without taking fresh loans. The inherited debt was above ₦204 billion, he said.
The event doubled as a preview of his re-election argument. Otu said a second term would move the state from recovery to creating wealth, and told party leaders to take the government's record to voters across the 18 local government areas and 196 wards.
What the governor listed
On money, Otu said internally generated revenue rose from ₦21.1 billion in 2022 to ₦46.3 billion in 2024. He argued that retiring debt frees up resources for public services.
He also listed recovered public assets: Tinapa, reclaimed from the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON); close to ₦1 billion recovered from Etung Cocoa Estates; and continuing efforts over the state's oil wells, its interests around Bakassi and the proposed deep seaport.
On jobs and welfare, he said the employment embargo had been lifted, more than 3,000 local government workers were returned to the payroll, and the first batch of gratuities was paid after nearly two decades.
For infrastructure, he cited work on the Obudu Cargo Airport runway, roads, a bigger Cally Air fleet, the Teachers Continuous Training Institute in Biase, Akamkpa College's conversion into a University of Entrepreneurship, and private-sector partnerships for the garment factory and Obudu Ranch.
He said agriculture — cocoa, rice, potatoes, palm fruit and cassava — and digital projects are meant to drive future growth, including more than 200 kilometres of fibre laid in Calabar and ICT training for over 600 residents. He noted the state's selection by the World Bank's GovTech team for a 2026 bootcamp in Seoul.
Looking ahead, Otu promised to turn recovered assets into working businesses, finish major projects, expand youth and farming programmes, set up industrial parks in each of the three senatorial districts and improve workers' welfare.
He asked the campaign team to argue its case with facts and restraint, saying the contest is about the state's future rather than any one person. "Continuity is an attitude of maturity," he said.
The figures were presented by the governor at a partisan event; the sources did not include independent confirmation from the state's debt office or an opposition response.
What happens next
The campaign council will now take the administration's record to voters ahead of the 2027 general elections, with Otu seeking a second term on the strength of the debt, revenue and asset-recovery claims.
