By Okoi Obono-Obla
Although Cross River State did not vote for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the 2023 presidential election — Peter Obi of the Labour Party won the state with 179,917 votes against Tinubu’s 130,520 — the Tinubu administration has nonetheless made significant investments in the state.
The most notable is Sections 3A and 3B of the N15 trillion Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway, covering 75 kilometres of dual carriageway across Cross River and Akwa Ibom States, which is the largest federal road infrastructure project in southern Nigeria since independence. The highway will create multiple economic linkages, including boosting inter-state trade and commerce, easing transportation, creating employment, and opening up economic growth for the state.
Another huge investment is the revitalization of Calabar Port. For decades, the port suffered from shallow channels due to abandoned dredging contracts. President Tinubu has now taken decisive steps:
a) Approved $1 billion for the total reconstruction and modernization of five major seaports including Calabar Port, alongside Apapa, Tincan Island, Warri and Port Harcourt, with work scheduled to commence in Q1 2026 and delivered within 48 months.
b) Granted approval on August 15, 2025 for a Channel Management Company to dredge the Calabar Port channel to increase draft depth and allow larger vessels to berth, as confirmed by NPA Board Chairman, Senator Adedayo Adeyeye.
c) Included Calabar in the Federal Government’s Eastern Ports Modernisation Programme covering Onne, Rivers, Delta and Calabar ports.
d) Approved the construction of Bakassi Deep Seaport in Cross River State as one of five new deep seaports under his administration.
Other verified projects initiated or resumed under President Tinubu include: the resumption of the 23-kilometre Ikom–Etomi–Agbokim Waterfalls Road by the NDDC after 13 years of abandonment, flagged off on January 8, 2025; the N55 billion Ndibe Beach Bridge linking Afikpo in Ebonyi State to Ebom in Cross River State; the $538 million Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone (SAPZ) at Adiabo in Odukpani LGA, whose foundation was laid on April 10, 2025; and the $500 million Sustainable Power and Irrigation in Nigeria (SPIN) project, backed by the World Bank, in which Cross River is listed among 25 beneficiary states.
We must therefore encourage our people to vote massively for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for a second term so that these laudable projects initiated in his first term can be completed.
In conclusion, President Tinubu has demonstrated statesmanship by rising above partisan voting patterns to invest equitably in Cross River State. From the coastal highway to the ports and agro-industrial zones, no administration since independence has invested this heavily in the state. Completing these transformative projects will require continuity, and that continuity can only be guaranteed by a second term.
