KEY POINTS

• The Sport Community Support Group was inaugurated Friday in Calabar with a 10-member executive and 18 LGA vice chairmen as coordinators.
• Commission chairman Lawrence Etta framed sport as a unifier capable of bridging ethnic, religious and ideological divides.
• Director General Obi Akan described the structure as “an intentional political strategy” to canvass support for the two leaders.

The Cross River State Sports Commission inaugurated a grassroots political support group Friday, formally entering the state government’s machinery behind President Bola Tinubu and Governor Bassey Otu’s re-election campaigns well ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The newly formed Sport Community Support Group was inaugurated at a ceremony in Calabar, with Sports Commission Chairman Lawrence Etta presiding. While he described the group’s members as “key actors for effective grassroots mobilisation to secure victory across all levels in the forthcoming general elections.”

The group further draws its territorial reach from the sports infrastructure already in place across the state. Vice chairmen of all 18 local government councils, who serve as sports coordinators at the community level, will double as LGA coordinators for the mobilisation effort.

Sport as a Political Bridge

Etta made a deliberate case for why a sports agency belongs in electoral politics. He argued that sport uniquely brings Nigerians together across ethnic, religious, and ideological divides, and urged supporters to direct the same unifying energy toward building a broad coalition for the Tinubu-Otu ticket.

“Sport is a uniting factor. I urge all the support group members to carry out this evangelism for President Tinubu and Governor Otu’s re-election,” he also said.

Etta also tied the political push to policy substance, framing the re-election drive as a continuation of work already underway. He urged members to actively promote the federal government’s Renewed Hope Agenda and Governor Otu’s People’s First Mantra.

The Group’s Leadership

According to Billionaires Africa, the 10-member executive includes Director General Obi Akan as chair, with Christina Eso as secretary and Emilia Katame as financial secretary. Akan made no attempt to soften the group’s mandate after his inauguration.

“It is an intentional political strategy and we will further do our best to canvass support for our leaders,” he said.

The formation of the group reflects a wider trend of state government agencies mobilising early for 2027, with the Ekiti State government this week also unveiling 5,000 canvassers for Governor Biodun Oyebanji’s re-election bid.