The 2027 House of Representatives race in the Ikom/Boki Federal Constituency has started taking a sharper tone, with the candidate of the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC), Ntufam Henry Ojugo, launching a direct attack on the record and visibility of the incumbent lawmaker, Hon. Victor Abang of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Ojugo, a former Cross River State Accountant-General and the NDC candidate for the Ikom/Boki Federal Constituency, said his decision to contest the seat was driven by what he described as the need to provide “robust representation” and bring an end to what he called “selfish representation.”
The NDC candidate did not spare the incumbent lawmaker in his assessment of the current state of representation, accusing Abang of allegedly becoming distant from the people after securing the seat.
According to Ojugo, the current federal lawmaker is no longer sufficiently present among the people he represents.
“He is not present with his people. He is not there to motivate them. The people do not even know him. Those who know him knew him when he went campaigning. After the campaign, they’ve not seen him again,” Ojugo said.
The statement represents one of the strongest political punches yet directed at Abang as the 2027 Ikom/Boki Federal Constituency contest gradually gains weight.
Ojugo's criticism is centred largely on accessibility and physical presence, suggesting that winning an election should not mark the end of a representative's relationship with the people but rather the beginning of a stronger responsibility to the constituency.
With the incumbent now seeking another mandate, Ojugo's criticism places the question of constituency presence and accessibility at the centre of the emerging campaign.
For the NDC candidate, the issue is not simply about occupying a seat in Abuja but about how visible and useful the representative is to the people at home.
Ojugo also rejected the growing argument that the NDC may not have enough political strength in Cross River State to challenge the established parties.
He acknowledged that the party's structure may not yet be as formidable as that of the APC but insisted that the NDC has structures on the ground and can compete effectively in the 2027 election.
“Who told you that NDC don’t have structures on ground? The structure may not be as formidable as that of the APC. Money does not count in politics,” he said.
He further argued that voters should not allow themselves to be influenced by money during the election, maintaining that political mandates should be based on the competence and character of candidates.
“A man who knows his onions will not sell his mandate,” Ojugo stated.
Beyond his criticism of Abang, the NDC candidate presented himself as a candidate seeking to mobilise the people and attract greater federal presence to Ikom/Boki.
Ojugo said his approach would be people-centred, beginning with mobilisation and giving constituents what he described as a renewed “sense of hope and belonging.”
He said he possesses the experience, capacity and contacts required to attract federal projects and government attention to the constituency.
One of the areas where Ojugo expressed particular concern was the state of development in Ikom, which serves as the headquarters of the Central Senatorial District.
He questioned what he described as the inadequate presence of government institutions and infrastructure in the town.
“There is hardly any government presence in Ikom,” he said, arguing that it was unacceptable for a senatorial headquarters to lack adequate public health facilities and institutions of repute.
He lamented what he described as the neglect of the people, saying, “The people of Ikom have been rubbished.”
Ojugo also drew attention to the condition of the Ikom-Obudu federal highway, an important road corridor connecting communities and linking parts of Central and Northern Cross River.
Rather than individual lawmakers fighting to take credit for projects, the NDC candidate called for greater cooperation among the lawmakers representing the state.
According to him, lawmakers must work together to secure projects that benefit the people rather than compete over who receives political credit.
“Synergy is the in thing,” he said, stressing that if the five National Assembly members from the state cooperate, the road and other development challenges could receive stronger attention.
“You don’t fight to take glory individually,” he added.
Ojugo also linked the challenges facing young people in Ikom/Boki to unemployment, lack of empowerment and the absence of sufficient opportunities.
He expressed concern that youths without jobs or meaningful economic opportunities could become vulnerable to social vices, including drug abuse.
“The youths of Ikom do not have hope for the future. Youth mobilisation and empowerment are not there, and you find our youths going into drugs, because an idle mind is the devil’s workshop,” he said.
Women empowerment also featured prominently in his proposed agenda, with Ojugo stressing that investing in women has a wider effect on families and communities.
“If you educate a woman, you educate the society at large. If you empower a woman, you empower a society at large,” he said.
The emerging political argument in Ikom/Boki therefore appears to be moving beyond party labels and into a contest over what constitutes effective representation.
For the NDC candidate, the major question is whether the people are seeing enough of their representative, benefiting sufficiently from federal presence and receiving the kind of development they expect from a federal constituency.
For Abang and the APC, the 2027 contest provides an opportunity to defend the incumbent's record and seek another mandate from voters.
Abang's supporters have previously pointed to his legislative activities and constituency interventions, while the lawmaker has continued to maintain a presence in the political affairs of Ikom/Boki. His May 2026 APC primary victory also demonstrated that he retains significant support within the party structure.
Ojugo's latest comments, however, show that the NDC intends to make the incumbent's relationship with the electorate one of the major issues of the 2027 campaign.
The question now is whether the people of Ikom and Boki share Ojugo's assessment of the incumbent's representation or whether Abang's record will withstand the political scrutiny that is expected to intensify as the election approaches.
With both sides likely to present their records, promises and competing narratives to voters, the Ikom/Boki federal race could become one of the closely watched political contests in Cross River State ahead of 2027.
For now, Henry Ojugo has made his position clear: he wants voters to judge the incumbent not simply by the fact that he occupies a seat in the Green Chamber, but by his accessibility, visibility, legislative impact and ability to bring development closer to the people.
And with the NDC candidate already taking direct aim at Victor Abang, the battle for the Ikom/Boki Federal Constituency has clearly entered a more confrontational political phase.
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