Cross River State Governor, Bassey Otu, on Monday said President Bola Tinubu put his life on the line for democracy in Nigeria.
Otu made the claim at an All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential campaign rally in Calabar.
He described Tinubu as a courageous President.
He said: "A nation is not defined by its wealth only but by the quality of decisions taken by leaders at critical moments. Today history bestows on me the mandate to see to the magnanimity of a change agent hero in the heart of Cross Riverians, South-South people, and of course Nigerians as a people.
"This solemn task is enabled by the sense of gratitude, hospitality, and productivity of the great people of our state and the avatar personality of Africa's courageous President, our own Asiwaju Bola Tinubu," Otu said.
He also commended the President for ending the fuel subsidy regime that exploited Nigerians.
Otu added: "In the nick of time, God created a special womb that would carry an icon of freedom, a demagogue, and a Jagaban who put his life on the line for democracy, he created the South-South Development Commission and eclipsed the exploitative subsidy regime, helped the children of the poor to attend citadel of learning, and linked Calabar with Lagos via coastal line."