Cross River Govt: Kwankwaso’s Visit to Calabar Has No Political Undertones

Bassey Inyang in Calabar

The Office of the Cross River State Governor, Senator Bassey Otu, has stated the recent visit of the presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPC, Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, to the state has no political undertone but was purely a business reconnaissance trip.

While in the state, Kwankwaso had paid a courtesy visit to Governor Otu, but was received by the state deputy governor, Mr. Peter Odey, because the was on a working visit outside the country.

Though Kwankwaso said his visit was apolitical, reactions from some political quarters have given political colouration to his visit to the state.

On Wednesday, the Governor’s Office through Otu’s Chief Press Secretary and Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Linus Obogo, issued a press statement Kwankwaso’s visit saying it had nothing to do with politics, but a purely business trip.

The statement issued by Obogo was tagged “Clarification on Needless Mischief Over Ex-Gov Kwankwaso’s Visit to Calabar.”

The document read in part: “It has become necessary to address, in the strongest and clearest of terms, the needless hysteria, the idle conjectures, and the mischievous insinuations trailing the recent visit of former Kano State governor, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, to Cross River State.

“That visit, made on September 9, 2025, was no more than an investment reconnaissance by a prominent Nigerian who, like many others before him, has seen in our rich agrarian soil and vast natural endowments, a fertile ground for enterprise and growth.

“To attempt, therefore, to clothe such a straightforward mission with the robes of political conspiracy is not only irresponsible but also an insult to the intelligence of discerning Cross Riverians.

“The notion that Governor Bassey Edet Otu, a man whose political convictions are as clear as daylight and whose fidelity to his mandate is beyond reproach, is “romancing” the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) on account of this harmless visit, is as laughable as it is idiotic.

“It is the product of idle, demented minds and mischievous tongues, no less than flies buzzing around the banquet of progress, desperate to contaminate what they cannot create.”

The statement said further that “Governor Otu is, at this moment, in Algiers where he is leading Cross River State to global platforms, engaging the 5th Afreximbank Sub-Sovereign Business Forum to attract meaningful investment into our state.

“In his absence, the Deputy Governor, Rt. Hon. Peter Odey, did the most honorable and courteous thing – receiving Senator Kwankwaso, as has been done with other distinguished Nigerians, who have similarly visited the state. These courtesies are not about political parties, they are about respect, hospitality, and the pursuit of development.

“It must therefore be said without equivocation that Cross River State under Governor Otu remains open to all investors, irrespective of political coloration or geographic origin.

“To read partisanship into such an open-handed visitation is to demean the state’s dignity and to betray a warped understanding of governance. Mischief-makers who peddle these insinuations are no more than merchants of confusion, merely stirring muddy waters in the hope of feigning depth.

“We deprecate in the strongest terms this brazen mischief, this attempt to sow seeds of discord, to distract from the noble vision of the “People First” administration, and to cast shadows where only light shines.

“The public is urged to dismiss such insinuations with the contempt they deserve. Governor Otu’s focus is firm: to build a prosperous Cross River State, not to indulge in the empty chatter of political jesters.”