Meet Asandia Bassey Hogan, First Female Chairperson of Calabar Municipality

Asandia Hogan is poised to become the first female chairperson of Calabar Municipality. She is the first woman to ever vie for this position.​

Born on August 25, 1981, Asandia Bassey Asuquo Hogan is a mother, wife and businesswoman from Ikot Nsisuk, Ward 6 of Calabar Municipality, who was able to carve out a niche for herself in the fashion industry.

According to a popular social analyst, Asandia brings a fresh outlook to the politics of Calabar municipality and Cross River as a whole. Her youthfulness, and background in both the private and public sector for the past 20 years comes to bear. Her boisterous ideologies about life could be that fresh breath that Calabar municipality needs.

Calabar, the capital of Cross River State, is the tourism capital of Nigeria. Administratively, the city is divided into Calabar Municipal and Calabar South LGAs. Everyone knows there is something about Calabar. They just can’t really place it, but they know it. There is something about the people and their food. Asandia is a true-to-type Calabar woman.

Asandia’s bold bid to take the reins of Calabar politics has prompted questions from different quarters. How thick is the line between fashion and politics? Doesn’t she look out of place at the corridors of power? Wouldn’t her swing to politics destroy what friends, fans and family have always known her to be? Could she possible bring some style to the government quarters owing to her background in fashion designing?

She did not just find herself in politics, as many would assume. She has been a member of The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) since 2008 after she came back from studying Marketing and Public Relations (BA) in England. Her mother has a political history of her own too; she was the PDP Deputy Woman Leader South-South political zone till her death in 2001.

Social analysts believe that her strength lies in her being an astute business woman, wife and mother. These roles she juggles effortlessly, lends credence to her suitability for the job. As the first woman to ever vie for this political seat, she has garnered the support of feminists, humanists, rights groups, the youth and other similar groups. This has already become evident in the kind of support she has been getting across different social and political platforms.