Bassey Edet Otu (born 18 October 1959) popularly known as ''Sweet Prince'' is a Nigerian politician and the current governor of Cross River State Southern Nigeria. who served as a onetime

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

for Cross River South from 2011 to 2015, and a onetime representative of Calabar Municipal/Odukpani constituency of

Cross River State Cross River State is a state in the South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria. Named for the Cross River, the state was formed from the eastern part of the Eastern Region on 27 May 1967. The state has its capital as Calabar and is bordered to ...

, in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

from 2003 to 2011.

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, Cali and Kalabar) is the capital city of Cross River State, Nigeria. It was originally named Akwa Akpa, in the Efik language, as the Efik people dominate this area. The city is adjac ...

and in

Jos Jos is a city in the North-Central region of Nigeria. The city has a population of about 900,000 residents based on the 2006 census. Popularly called "J-Town", it is the administrative capital and largest city of Plateau State. The city is situ ...

Plateau State Plateau is a northern states of Nigeria, Nigerian state. It is located in the north-central geopolitical zone of Nigeria and includes a range of hills surrounding the Jos Plateau. Plateau State is described as "The Home of Peace and Tourism". Th ...

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

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...

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

University of Calabar The University of Calabar is a federal university situated in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria. It is one of Nigeria's second-generation federal universities. The University of Calabar was a campus of the University of Nigeria until 1975. ...

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

House of Representatives (2003–2011)

Otu was elected a Member of the House of Representatives in April 2003 to represent Calabar Municipality/Odukpani Federal Constituency and re-elected 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 Nige ...

belonged to

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

was wrong, but that the job now was to resettle displaced relatives of

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

and move on. Otu was Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream).

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 and his believed to have great impact on the citi, 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 who served as the president of Nigeria from 2015 to 2023. A retired Nigerian army major general, he was the military head of state of Nigeria from 31 December 1983 to 27 Augu ...

. Following his inaugural speech in May 2023 Otu claims to have joined politics for the service of humanity

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) Senators of the 7th National Assembly (Nigeria)