Bassey Otu: Biography of The Crossriver State Governor-elect

Biography

64 years ago, on October 18, 1959, Bassey Otu was born into the family of the late Elder and Mrs. Edet Okon Otu, who hail from Adiabo, Odukpani Local Government Area of Cross River State.

Aside from being raised in his parent's residential city of Calabar, the state's capital, he was also raised in Jos the Plateau state capital, by his father, who had been assigned to the mission of the Church of Scotland.

Education and Political Career

Bassey Otu is an Alumni of the Cross River State University Calabar where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences, and worked briefly in the banking, petroleum, and agricultural sector before kick-starting his political career when was elected to represent Calabar municipality and Odukpani constituency in 2003, and reelected in 2007

While a member of the House of Representatives, he was elected Chairman of, the House Committee on Petroleum (upstream), where he spearheaded the enactment of the Nigerian Content Development Act, which puts the sector in the hands of Nigerians, repositioning the petroleum development funds to focus on local content creation.

A move that increased the number of Indigenous players in the sector from 31% to about 90% within 12 years

He was also vice-chairman of, the House Committee on National Population and an outstanding member of committees on power, Ministry of Niger Delta, water resources, Defense, and many others.

Bassey Otu was elected Senator representing Cross River Southern Senatorial District in 2011 and was made Chairman of, the Senate Committee on Finance and later Chairman of, the Senate Committee on Banking and other financial institutions.

He was also a member of various Senate committees, including those on water resources and petroleum. Also due to his diligence, commitment to service, and hard work, he was appointed to the board of the National Insurance Scheme by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2018.

Senator Bassey Otu won the APC Governorship Primaries to replace the outgoing Governor Ben Ayade as the new Governor of the state, even though a lot of controversies arose questioning his qualification to contest for the top position in the state, such as his educational background and character history.

The cases against him were all dismissed for lack of substantial evidence, and his candidacy was upheld.

In his interview with Channels Television, while discussing the governorship race in the state, Senator Bassey Otu highlighted the reasons behind his desire for public office, which has always been about putting the people first in all decision-making processes, and that is his mantra for the governorship race.

On the 18th of March 2023, having pulled the majority of the votes and winning more than 25% of the local government areas and over 40% of the total vote with 258,619 votes, Senator Prince Bassey Otu Edet was declared the winner of the Cross River State Governorship race and hence the Governor-elect.

Come May 2023, Bassey Otu will be sworn in as the 7th democratically elected governor of Cross River State, Nigeria, and he will have his chance to implement all he has promised. He is a proud husband and father to Mrs. Eyoanwan Bassey Otu and their children.