Owan-Enoh targets all 18 Cross River LGAs for Tinubu in 2027
- Minister John Owan-Enoh says APC must win all 18 Cross River LGAs in 2027, up from seven in 2023.
- He spoke as he inaugurated Project Beyond 2027 structures in Calabar ahead of a presidential rally.
- A separate town hall heard that over 5,350 MSMEs in the state have received grants and training.
The Minister of State for Industry, Senator John Owan Enoh, has told the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Cross River State to aim for all 18 local government areas in the 2027 elections, after the party won only seven there in 2023.
He spoke in Calabar on Sunday while inaugurating the state executives and polling unit coordinators of Project Beyond 2027, a grassroots group mobilising for President Bola Tinubu. The event held at Atu Field in Calabar South, according to Daily Post and Leadership.
Enoh, who is also Director of Manufacturing and MSME Sector Mobilisation in the APC Presidential Campaign Council, recalled how the 2023 presidential vote split in the state.
“In the 2023 election, out of 18 local governments, our president only won seven. Atiku Abubakar won one. Ten of Cross River's local governments were won by Peter Obi,” he said.
He charged the new coordinators to work at ward and polling unit level, engaging residents in markets and communities, and said the target was not slim victories but a large margin. Vanguard reported that he put it as “18 over 18”, with each of the three senatorial districts delivering for Tinubu and Governor Bassey Otu.
The group's new state coordinator, Dr John Ebokpo, pledged to mobilise across the state's 3,281 polling units, 196 wards and 18 LGAs, according to Vanguard. He also promised to protect votes.
Also speaking, Adamson Ayinde, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Industrial Training and Development, urged Cross River residents to back Tinubu's second term. He cited the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road and health projects, and said the President had implemented 65 to 70 per cent of the group's blueprint.
Small businesses get support
The political gathering came a day after a separate event in Calabar, where the Cross River State Micro Enterprise Development Agency (MEDA) gave an account of support for small businesses.
MEDA Director-General Great Ogban said more than 5,350 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the state had benefited from cash grants, skills training and capacity building, ThisDay reported.
He said SMEDAN trained 2,500 people across the three senatorial districts, while another 2,000 benefited from a separate programme, with 500 of them receiving grants of ₦500,000 each. He also cited a ₦200 million MSME intervention, single-digit interest loans, ₦50,000 grants and 1,000 free Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) business registrations provided by the state.
At the same town hall, Enoh said MSMEs make up nearly 96 per cent of businesses, contribute 40 per cent of Nigeria's Gross Domestic Product and generate about 87 per cent of employment.
He listed federal projects planned for Cross River, including talks on an electric bicycle assembly plant, 75 acres of land in Calabar for an automotive-related project and an automotive training centre being built by the National Automotive Design and Development Council.
What happens next
Vanguard reported that a presidential campaign rally is scheduled for Monday at U.J. Esuene Stadium in Calabar, with the Project Beyond inauguration moved up to come before it. The 2027 general election is still more than a year away, and the local government results will depend on how the party's ward-level structures perform.
