2027: PDP affirms Arthur Jarvis as Cross River guber candidate

The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Cross River on Sunday formally affirmed businessman and philanthropist, Sir Arthur Jarvis Archibong, as its governorship candidate for the 2027 election.

At the party’s governorship primaries held in Calabar on Sunday, senior PDP figures, including former Deputy Governor Efiok Cobham, rallied support for Jarvis, describing him as the candidate capable of reclaiming the state for the PDP in 2027.

Addressing party faithful, Cobham said the PDP had overcome its internal challenges and was gradually rebuilding its political strength in the state.

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“Courage is not the absence of fear, but triumph over fear,” the former deputy governor said.

“Big names don’t win matches, good teams do. We are not going into this election because we want to go to elections; we are going into this election because we want to win.”

“We have hemorrhaged enough, but we have stopped haemorrhaging. We have started living again and very soon we will grow,” he added.

Also speaking at the event, state chairman of the PDP, Vena Ikem, questioned the achievements of the current administration and said the governor had not demonstrated enough performance to deserve re-election.

“I saw a billboard somewhere that said ‘Governor Otu Again’. I wished I could add a question mark there,” Ikem said.

“Because for four years, we all know that we don’t know why he is governor. The highest we have seen is that he has covered some potholes in Calabar and renovated the library on the highway. Apart from those projects, I am yet to know what else he has done as governor.”

Ikem said despite the perceived strength of incumbency, the PDP was prepared to challenge the ruling APC at the polls.

“Incumbency has not shown anything. It has not shown any reason why we should vote for him again,” he declared.

Declaring the result of the exercise, chairman of the electoral committee, Dr. Clinton Chima, announced that Jarvis polled 10,130 votes from 10,133 accredited party members across the state to emerge as the party’s sole governorship candidate.

“I have the singular honour, as chairman of the 2026 gubernatorial election primaries in Cross River State, by the powers conferred on me by the National Working Committee and the constitution of our party, to declare Sir Arthur Jarvis Archibong elected as the candidate of the PDP,” Chima said.

He described the exercise as peaceful, free, and fair, while urging party faithful to unite behind the candidate ahead of the 2027 governorship contest.

In his acceptance speech, Jarvis pledged to focus on governance and people-centred development if elected governor, while criticising what he termed poor leadership in the state.

“Our state has been bedevilled by very poor leadership,” he said.

“People come in, take the resources of the state, turn it into their personal empire and leave without solving the people’s problems.”

The PDP candidate said the forthcoming election would be driven by the desire for change rather than party sentiments.

“This movement is not going to be about party; it is going to be about the people,” he declared.

Jarvis also called on former PDP members now in the APC to return to the opposition party, saying they would be welcomed back “like royalty.”

The governorship hopeful compared Cross River’s pace of development unfavourably with neighbouring states, arguing that the state had lost its competitive edge due to poor governance.

“We have places to compare with — Abia, Enugu, and Akwa Ibom have all moved ahead of us,” he said.