Mr. Oden Ewa, Commissioner for Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs
By Kammonke Abam
The Cross River Commissioner for Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs, Mr. Oden Ewa, has emerged tops of the poll conducted by Livesonline.ng to determine the Best Commissioner in Cross River State, 2025 as part of the mid-term evaluation of Governor Bassey Edet Otu’s administration.
This was disclosed by the newspaper’s Editorial Board following the analysis of the media poll conducted online among internet citizens (active online users).
Ewa‘s cumulative score from the three-prong criteria of popular vote based on public perception of the critical mass which is 10 percent, accomplishments recorded in office, 80 percent; and content analysis of media reports on the different Commissioners, 10 percent put him ahead of his closest rival, Johnson Ebokpo of the Agriculture and Irrigation Ministry.
The Commissioner for Environment, Moses Osogi came up the ladder and is in the same loop as the Science and Technology Commissioner, Justin Beshel, the Works Commissioner, Hon. Pius Ankpo; and Health Commissioner, Dr. Egbe Ayuk, and the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Ededem Ani
Other Commissioners who made the loop of the first ten best performing Commissioners are the Information Commissioner, Dr. Erasmus Ekpang, Chief Francis Ekpenyong of the Lands Ministry, and Dr. Stephen Odey of the Education Ministry.
Ewa is said to have successfully carried out the mandate of his ministry in line with the Governor Otu’s “People First” agenda, leading the process of renovating the once dilapidated State Library complex to an ultra modern State Library, facilitating the purchase of the newly acquired aircrafts to add to the existing fleet, overseeing the commencement of repair work at the Tinapa resort, working with his colleagues to ensure that all government property that were leased or bought without due diligence are recovered and returned back to the state; and leading from the front to ensure that the state reduces chlorofluorocarbons by ensuring that Vehicles in the State are CNG-enabled, as the Chairman/CEO of the Green Economy Commission.
Agriculture Commissioner, Johnson Ebokpo, is said to have carried out tremendous transformation in the agricultural sector especially at the grassroots including facilitating Cross River State Government entering into collaborative agreement with a French Coffee Firm, JR farms, to develop and strengthen the coffee value chain that will make Cross River to become a key player in the global coffee market; promoting job creation and economic growth, in the process; embarking on a targeted sensitisation campaign across the state to ensure a more coordinated and transparent system for farmer registration and agricultural interventions in line with Governor Bassey Edet Otu’s People-First Agenda; acquiring on behalf of the Cross River State government motorbikes to improve the mobility and effectiveness of agricultural extension officers throughout the state.
The Commissioner for Environment, Honourable Moses John Osogi, is said to have instituted a compulsory statewide monthly sanitation exercise on the last Saturday of each month.
This initiative has fostered continuous collaborative partnerships with non-state actors to build a solid waste business case for waste value-chain enhancement.
Additionally, his ministry is said to have completed a multi-sectoral investment plan supported by the World Bank Group following a study conducted under the West Africa Coastal Assessment (WACA) project.
The Prevention of Marine Litter in the Gulf of Guinea (PROTEGO) is a three-year (2024–2027) project funded by the German Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety and led by adelphi Research gGmbH. The project aims to reduce marine litter, particularly plastic waste, in Ghana and Nigeria through innovative pollution prevention measures.
Most of the respondents who voted for the other nominees supported their nominations with their accomplishments in the last two years.
The newspaper acknowledged the limitations in media polls like the one they have conducted. “We recognise that conducting assessments or polls among internet citizens has several limitations, including potential sampling bias, unrepresentativeness of the sample, and difficulty generalizing findings to the broader population. Additionally, response rates and the availability of internet access can affect the reliability of the results while valuable, has several limitations.”, the paper noted.
“This poll, like most other surveys and polls, provide only estimates. The results are based on answers collected from a small segment of a population, active online users, so the outcome may have varied had we asked every single person in Cross River State the same set of questions”, the statement said.
“We weighed the data against the results of the voting, accomplishments as shared and content analysis of media reports on them. The Editorial Board members then triangulated all three variables to determine the outcome”, the newspaper explained its methodology.
“However, this process has been a learning curve and will definitely be improved on in next year’s evaluation”, the paper acknowledged.
The poll is part of Livesonline’s contribution to strengthening and deepening democracy and enhancing accountability in public office
A commemorative memento certifying the winner would be presented as a memorial to the winner.
In a related development, the portal for voting for the best National Assembly member from Cross River State and that of the Cross River State House of Assembly would open in a few days time.
This is due to popular demand that this exercise be extended to our representatives in both the National Assembly and the State House Assembly. The link for voting would be embedded in the livesonline.ng website.
online.ng website.
