Bassey Edet Otu (born 18 October 1959) is a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

politician who represented the Calabar Municipal/Odukpani constituency of

Cross River State ) , image_map = Nigeria - Cross River.svg , map_alt = , map_caption = Location of Cross River State in Nigeria , coordinates = , coor_pinpoint ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

in the Federal House of Representatives from 2003 - 2011. He was elected Senator for Cross River South in the April 2011 elections, running on the

People's Democratic Party People's Democratic Party or ''variant thereof'', could refer to: * People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan *People's Democratic Party (Belize) *People's Democratic Party (Bhutan) *People's Democratic Party (Chile) * People's Democratic Party (Dom ...

(PDP) platform. He later defected in 2016 to the

All Progressives Congress The All Progressives Congress (APC) is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Nigeria, along with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Founded on 6 February 2013 from a merger of Nigeria's three largest opposition parties, the ...

(APC) and emerged the Cross River South Senatorial flag bearer of the party in the 2019 election. Prince otu is the current Governor Elect of Cross River state after the 2023 Gubernatorial polls

Background

Prince Bassey Edet Otu was born on 18 October 1959 to the family of Late Eld. & Mrs. Edet Okon Otu of Adiabo in Odukpani Local Government Area of Cross River State. He grew up in his home city of

Calabar Calabar (also referred to as Callabar, Calabari, Calbari and Kalabar) is the capital city of Cross River State, Nigeria. It was originally named Akwa Akpa, in the Efik language. The city is adjacent to the Calabar and Great Kwa rivers and cre ...

and in Jos,

Plateau State Plateau State is the twelfth-largest Nigerian state. It is in the centre of the country includes a range of hills surrounding the Jos Plateau, its capital, and the entire plateau itself. Plateau State is described as "The Home of Peace and To ...

, where his father had been assigned to the mission of the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...

. He obtained a bachelor's degree in the Faculty of Social Sciences from the

University of Calabar The University of Calabar is a public university, public List of universities in Nigeria, university situated in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria. It is one of Nigeria's second generation federal universities. The University of Calabar was a ...

. Before entering politics, he was engaged in banking and then in the petroleum sector. He also dabbles in farming.

House of Representatives (2003-2011)

Otu was elected a Member of House of Representatives in April 2003 to represent Calabar Municipality/Odukpani Federal Constituency and reelected in April 2007. Within this period (2003-2011), he was Chairman, House Committee on Petroleum (Upstream), Vice Chairman, House Committee on National Population and member of committees on Power, Ministry of Niger Delta, Inter-Parliamentary Relations, Inter-Intra Party Relations, Environment, Water Resources and Defense. In a 2007 interview, he said the ruling by an international court that the

Bakassi peninsula Bakassi is a peninsula on the Gulf of Guinea. It lies between the Cross River estuary, near the city of Calabar and the Rio del Ray estuary on the east. It is governed by Cameroon, following the transfer of sovereignty from neighbouring Niger ...

belonged to

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

was wrong, but that the job now was to resettle displaced relatives of Nigerians and move on. Otu was Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream). In this role, he led work on a draft amendment bill that would reposition the Petroleum Technology Development Fund as a more effective vehicle to develop local content in the oil and gas industry. The Senator, also for effective delivery sponsored the Nigerian Content Development Act, which today has revolutionized the petroleum sector and has put food on the table of many Nigerians.

Senator

In 2011, Otu was elected as Senator representing Cross River Southern Senatorial District. On arrival in the Senate, he became the Chairman, Senate Committee on Finance and later Chairman, Senate Committee on Banking and other financial Institutions; he was also a member, Committee on Navy, Power, Petroleum and Water Resources. His impact at the Senate was adjudged by many to be till date unprecedented; his name is said to be synonymous with human empowerment and societal development, this led to his being endorsed for re-election by Buhari Youth Organisation. In 2018, Otu was appointed into the board of National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) by President

Muhammadu Buhari Muhammadu Buhari (born 17 December 1942) is a Nigerian politician and current president of Nigeria since 2015. Buhari is a retired Nigerian Army major general who served as the country's military head of state from 31 December 1983 to 27 Au ...

. He is a receiver of several awards, both nationally and internationally. In his words, “I joined politics for service to humanity”. This is evidently true, as his record of empowerment ranging from Award of land documents and financial support to build, car awards, scholarships etc. is yet to be broken. He is happily married to Mrs. Eyoanwan Bassey Otu and the marriage is blessed with children.

Gallery

File:Prince bassey edet otu.jpg, alt=prince bassey edet otu, The senator during his 2019 senatorial Campaign. File:Sen prince bassey edet otu.jpg, alt=sen prince bassey edet otu, @Rural Campaign File:Prince Bassey otu.jpg, alt=prince bassey otu, During the 2019 APC Door-door Campaign File:Prince otu.jpg, alt=prince otu, @APC Campaign File:Senator Otu campaign vehicle.jpg, alt=2019 APC campaign vehicle, 2019 APC campaign vehicle File:Senator otu.jpg, alt=senator prince otu, 2019 APC Governorship and Presidential Campaign File:Prince otu campaign (2).jpg, alt=prince bassey otu, 2019 Governorship/Presidential campaign File:Prince otu campaign 3.jpg, alt=prince otu, During Local government tour File:Prince otu campaign (1).jpg, alt=prince otu, During the 2019 Ward to Ward campaign File:Senator Otu and wife.jpg, alt=senator otu, The senator at meeting with women supported by his Wife

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Otu, Bassey Living people 1959 births Members of the House of Representatives (Nigeria) Peoples Democratic Party members of the Senate (Nigeria)