By Frank Ulom
Being the only candidate in the entire country to lose the 2023 general election with the slimmest margin, Comrade Agbor Bassey Njar has been projected by Concerned Ikom Stakeholders to be considered by the Cross River Governor-elect, Prince Bassey Otu for appointment.
Comrade Agbor Bassey was one of the several big names that contested the just concluded State House of Assembly elections to represent Ikom 1 State Constituency. He emerged as the candidate of the ruling All Progressives Party (APC) and set the tone of the battle against the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and other political parties. Only a few doubted his capacity as he removed all the doubts that he was the man to beat in that election.
It is important to note that Ikom is the traditional stronghold of the PDP as no opposition party has ever had a meaningful political impact before in that axis. Moreso, since 2003, nobody from Ikom Urban has ever been a candidate of a major political party in an election apart from a Councilorship position.
Correct Man as fondly called by all, Comrade Agbor Bassey came into the race as a ready-made material. As a former Students’ Union President of the prestigious University of Calabar (UNICAL), he has been a veritable link between the youths, the middle class, the aged, and the nonindigenous people of the area. As a farmer and a businessman, he has a deep relationship with almost everyone in the environment. He is a gentleman to the core, a family man, and a respecter of law and order. Through his commitment to community development, his name is a household name in the entire constituency and beyond.
In the course of the electioneering campaigns, the People’s Comrade emerged as a political colossus, an enigma, the bridge, and tunnel through which APC as a party permeated and penetrated Ikom Urban. Everywhere you go chants of Correct Man were the strongest symbol of the party’s acceptance. He literally became a nightmare to the PDP being the leading opposition party.
At the end of the election, Correct Man still made history having the slimmest vote difference in the 2023 election in the entire country as he lost to the PDP with a pastry 35 votes. His visible presence in the field also helped to increase the chances of the APC doing considerably well in the Governorship polls. Despite the slim margin, it has been clearly established that compromise by his party men was largely responsible for his loss coupled with the electoral malpractice by the umpire which he seeks to correct in court.
Today, Comrade Agbor Bassey has earned the title ‘King of Boys’ in the entire Ikom 1 State Constituency having demonstrated his capacity to penetrate the nooks and crannies of one of the largest state constituencies with so much courage, character, charisma, and capacity.
“As the Sweet Prince takes over the leadership of Cross River State in the next few days, it’s important for him to consider people with massive grassroots appeal laced with copious capacity and exposure to serve in his administration. This will boost his acceptability in places he didn’t do well as well as deliver on his people-centred manifesto to the electorates.
“We, Concerned Ikom Stakeholders, therefore, present Comrade Agbor Bassey for consideration as an integral part of His Excellency, Senator Bassey Otu’s administration for the good of Cross River State”, Barr. Tasen Okune, focal person of Concerned Ikom Stakeholders stated.
