We Will Double Cross River's IGR In Four Years - Gov Bassey Otu

According to Cross River State Governor Bassey Otu, his administration is working to increase the state's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and internally generated revenue (IGR) during the course of the next four years.

During a visit to his office by a UTM Nigeria Limited delegation led by the managing director, Julius Rone, Governor Otu said: “We need to grow the economy. We have set a target for ourselves with machinery in motion to double our GDP with an attendant increase in IGR in the next four years.

“I am happy that the company has chosen Cross River State as its logistics base because we used to have many companies operating from here, but for whatever reason they moved. We want all of them back and operational again.

“Cross River State is very rich in hydrocarbon, with huge gas resources, which we intend to fully exploit during my administration.

“Providing job opportunities to over 3,000 unemployed in the state will be such a huge achievement. If there is anything we are earnestly looking forward to now, it is to provide employment for our youths.”

The investors' decision to locate the onshore operational support base for the over 1.5 million ton, multi-billion dollar LNG project in Rivers also received praise from the governor. Rone claimed that this was due to its close proximity to the plant's site.

Governor Otu praised the efforts being made to collect all of the gas being flared and wasted in this region. The proposal, which the investors claimed would be Africa's first floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility in Nigeria, also received his government's approval.

The team was in the state, according to Rone, who spoke about the project with his Japanese and German associates, to examine the site for the construction of an onshore operations support facility for the project's contractor, Messrs JGC Holdings Corporation of Japan.

He claims that the project is the first of its kind in Nigeria and that it is also the first of its kind to be created by a local, private African enterprise.