Vice President Kashim Shettima, on Monday, defended President Bola Tinubu’s economic reforms despite the resulting hardship they have imposed on Nigerians, urging voters to assess the administration against the state of the country when it assumed office in 2023.
Shettima, on Monday, spoke at the All Progressives Congress presidential campaign rally in Calabar, Cross River State, as the party mounted a fresh appeal for re-election support in the state ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Shettima, who stood in for President Bola Tinubu, argued that the reforms, though painful, were beginning to yield positive results and called on Nigerians to judge the President by comparing the country’s present condition with what he inherited.
The rally was attended by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, APC National Chairman, Nentawe Yilwatda, Cross River State Governor, Bassey Otu, Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri; Akwa Ibom State Governor, Umo Eno, Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo; Deputy Governor of Cross River State, Peter Odey, members of the National Assembly, including the Deputy Director-General of the Campaign Council, Adams Oshiomhole, party leaders and supporters.
While Shettima defended the economic direction of the Federal Government, Otu promised that Cross River would deliver maximum votes for Tinubu.
“President Bola Tinubu’s economic reforms are something we have seen, though painful; you can agree with me that they are beginning to yield positive results.
“Therefore, I urge Nigerians to judge the administration based on where the country was in 2023 when Tinubu took over and now,” Shettima said.
The Vice-President acknowledged the hardship associated with the reforms but argued that major economic transformation required difficult decisions.
He compared Tinubu’s leadership approach with that of Singapore’s founding Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew, whose administration transformed the country from a struggling colony into a global financial hub.
He urged Cross River residents to renew the APC’s mandate in 2027, describing the state as politically strategic to the party and deserving of greater federal presence.
He asked voters to support Tinubu, Otu, Odey and other APC candidates in the elections.
Otu, in turn, tied the state’s expected electoral support for Tinubu to the benefits he said Cross River stood to gain from federal projects and policies.
“In 2027, we are going to give President Bola Tinubu maximum votes in Cross River, because Cross River remains solidly APC.
“As a people, we will surely demonstrate our loyalty by giving the President overwhelming support at the polls come 2027,” the governor said.
He said Cross River had benefited from federal interventions under the Tinubu administration and would reciprocate with massive electoral support.
He also urged APC members and supporters across the state’s 18 local government areas to mobilise voters for the party’s candidates.
Among the projects Otu cited were the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, the proposed Bakassi Deep Seaport and the proposed location of the Gulf of Guinea Commission Secretariat in Calabar, which he said could reshape the state’s economic prospects.
He said the coastal highway would improve connectivity, trade, tourism and investment, while the proposed deep seaport could position Cross River as an international maritime gateway and generate employment.
