By George Odok
Deputy Speaker of the Cross River House of Assembly, Mr Joseph Bassey, has congratulated the state’s governor-elect, Sen. Bassey Otu of the APC on his victory at the March 18 polls.
In a congratulatory message made available to newsmen on Wednesday in Calabar, Bassey said that Otu’s emergence was “divine.”
According to him, the governor-elect was expected to set machinery in motion to revive the state economy, especially the tourism sectors.
He added that the track record of Otu as a member of both the House of Representatives and the Senate had equipped him with the needed experience.
Bassey, a House of Representatives member-elect for Akpabuyo/Bakassi/Calabar South Federal Constituency, said the number of vote he garnered at the polls indicated the love the people had for Otu.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had announced the APC candidate as the winner of the polls having scored 258,619 votes.
Otu’s closest rival and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Sen. Sandy Onor, polled 179,636 votes.
The deputy speaker expressed confidence that the governor-elect would promote agricultural growth, prioritise health and education amongst others.
“The victory of Sen. Otu has set Cross River on the path of economy recovery for the good of the state.
`Judging from his track record, Sen. Otu has the needed experience, capacity and contacts to make Cross River a better place for us all.
“I wish to call on the good people of the state to join hands and support his administration for the growth and development of the state,” he said.
The deputy speaker also congratulated the APC National Women Leader, Dr Betta Edu, for her pragmatic leadership style in the party.
He said that Edu had shown strength and capacity from her polling unit to ward and local government levels by delivering all the APC candidates that were on the ballot.
“Edu is an amazing woman, a grass-rooter and dogged mobiliser.
“She delivered the president, governor, senator, House of Representatives and state house members in her polling unit and ward level. In politics, we can best describe Edu as the amazon.
“We are happy with the capacity that she has shown in the last election. As one of the national officers of our great party, we are proud of her,” he said. (NAN)
