By Frank Ulom
The Chief of Staff to Governor Bassey Otu, Hon. Emmanuel Ironbar will be leading 1.5 million people from Cross River State to endorse the Governor and President Bola Tinubu in 2027.
He’ll be doing that at a mega rally holding April 18, 2026. The rally will be organised by the ‘Prince Is Coming’ political movement.
“Prince Is Coming is a philosophy born out of the pains and sacrifices of the 2015 political season.
“We saw people playing God and ignoring the cries of the masses. We rejected that narrative and focused on 2019 and 2023. Today, we speak with confidence because the man we brought, Governor Bassey Otu, has truly changed the narrative,” Ironbar, Director-General of Prince Is Coming movement stated during a press conference on Wednesday in Calabar.
He highlighted several milestones of the current administration, including the ongoing construction and rehabilitation of over 900 kilometres of roads, significant improvements in the health and education sectors, and the restoration of street lighting across the state. He specifically lauded the Governor’s “silent achiever” approach, noting that Otu prefers tangible results over media hype.
The Chief of Staff also stressed the strong relationship between Governor Otu and President Tinubu, which he credited for the approval of the Bakassi Deep Seaport and the inclusion of Cross River in the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project.
“The President has approved Cross River’s Deep Seaport because of who is in charge – our Governor. Cross River will no longer be seen as a civil service state, but as an industrial and economic hub,” Ironbar added.
Giving more details about the upcoming event, the Secretary of the movement and Chairman of Media and Publicity, Barr. Ekpenyong Akiba, revealed that, “The mega rally is scheduled for Saturday, April, 18 2026.”
The event, according to him, aims to gather 1.5 million supporters to openly endorse both the President and the Governor.
Akiba stated that the rally is “self-sponsored” by members and friends of the movement, describing it as a “reciprocation for gestures in leadership.” He further noted that the event would witness mass defections from the APC’s main rivals, the PDP and Labour Party.
“In Cross River State today, we are an operation ‘no other political party.’ Other parties have no business here because the facts of performance are clear,” Akiba asserted.
He pointed to the reclamation of state assets like the Tinapa Resort, Obudu Cattle Ranch, and various rubber estates as evidence of Otu’s commitment to restoring the state’s lost glory.
The movement announced a high-powered Central Planning Committee to oversee the rally, with the Chairman of Obudu, Hon. Peter Undiandeye heading the committee and Deputy Governor, Peter Odey, serving as Chairman of the Advisory Committee.
The group urged Cross Riverians to remain focused and avoid “political distractions,” maintaining that the Otu-Tinubu partnership is the surest path to transforming Cross River into a competing force alongside states like Lagos and Abuja.
