The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Cross River State

  •  CNPP lauds Ayade over victory at polls

    The Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) in Cross River State has congratulated the governor, Ben Ayade, on his re-election. Its chairman, Sunday Michael, said they decided to support the governor because “the governorship election was relatively free, fair and credible.”

    He said they have up to 25 political parties including their chairmen and some governorship aspirants, who have agreed, that now that the elections are over, the state should be allowed to move forward in the interest of the people, and also for the governor to settle and continue in his industrial development plan.

    Read also: Governorship poll: Our victory will be sweet, says Wike

    ”Elections have come and gone and our general assessment of the poll shows that the election was relatively free, fair and credible. It is on this premise that, we, the governorship candidates and chairmen of political parties, say a big congratulation to Senator Ben Ayade, Governor-Elect.

    ”We urge the governor to see this victory as the validation of the trust the majority of the people had in him to continue in his industrialization drive, job creation, youth empowerment and see to the realization of his flagship projects,” he said.

  • Egbona gets INEC certificate, renews commitment to serve

    Hours after receiving his certificate of return from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in Abuja, House of Representatives legislator-elect for the Abi/Yakurr Federal Constituency, Cross River State, Alex Egbona, has renewed his pledge to selflessly serve his constituency.

    Egbona said, in a statement, on Friday, that, he cannot afford to disappoint those who voted for him, despite what he called the stiff opposition he faced from those who were equally desirous of the seat.

    Stressing that his election was a testament to the people’s confidence in him, Egbona said he is seriously committed to the promises he made to the people.

    “My people came out in their numbers to choose me as their representative. The whole world now knows, that, I remain the only APC candidate in the just concluded elections to have won.

    “What that tells me is that my people love me. They demonstrated this love with their votes. They voted for me and defended their votes. They followed up till I was declared the winner.

    Read also: Libya deports another batch of 174 Nigerians

    “So, I am indebted to them in many ways. During the electioneering campaigns, I made promises to them. I like them to hold me accountable to those promises. They know that I am a man of my words and I will keep those promises,” Egbona said.

    He urged his opponents to join hands with him towards the development of the federal constituency, promising to carry everybody along.

    According to him, “All we are waiting for is the inauguration. But even before the inauguration, I already have set things in motion, to hit the ground running. Every Abi/Yakurr person should know that better days are ahead.

    ” I will run an inclusive, people-oriented system of representation in the lower chamber of the National Assembly. I will adopt the bottom-top approach in my service to the people.”

  • Security adviser kidnapped

    The Cross River State Security Adviser in charge of the southern district, Mr. Ani Esin, was yesterday kidnapped by gunmen in his home, The Nation has learnt.

    Esin, a former chairman of Bakassi Local Government, it was gathered, was manhandled by the kidnappers before they took him away in his vehicle.

    The police said following distress calls, a team led by Commissioner Austin Agbonlahor pursued the criminals and arrested them.

    Command spokesperson Irene Ugbo said the vehicle in which the kidnappers were escaping later had an accident and one of them died.

    She said the other suspects escaped into the bush with gunshot injuries.

    Ugbo said Esin was rescued and is responding to treatment in hospital.

    She said efforts were on to identify the dead kidnapper, adding that the fleeing suspects would soon be arrested.

  • Ayade in comfortable lead in Cross River

    Cross River State governor and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prof Ben Ayade, was in a comfortable lead after the collation of results of 14 out of 18 local government areas of the state.

    In the results submitted by the various returning officers at the state collation centre at the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Calabar, Ayade scored 268, 891 while the All Progressives Congress came second with got 89, 976.
    The APC in the state has the senator representing the Central Senatorial District, John Owan-Enoh and the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Usani Usani, laying claim to the governorship ticket of the party.
    At about 8.30pm the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr Frankland Briyai, announced there would be a one-hour break while results from the remaining four local government areas were awaited.

  • Farmers drag Cross River government to court over Boki oil palm estate

    Forty-three farmers in Boki local government area of Cross River State have dragged the state government to court over the alleged arbitrary revocation of their plots in the Boki Oil Palm Estate, which they claimed to have made payments for.

    In a case at the High Court of Cross River State with suit number HC/535/2018 instituted by the farmers against the Government of the State, the Attorney General and the Special Adviser on Infrastructure, they sought the refunds of various amounts of money amounting to N29 million that they contributed for plots of land of Boki Palm Estates.

    In the Writ of Summons, the claimants John Erosion, Ovia Goddy Otu and Deborah Nku on behalf of 40 others said the defendants, even after payment, were unable to facilitate them taking possession of the allotted plots of land and unilaterally revoked the allocation without any refunds.

    Speaking though their lawyers, Okimasi Ojong and Co, they claimed they have suffered damages and were claiming from the defendants, jointly and severally, the sum of N100 million naira being the approximate revenue they would have made from the proceeds of sale of the oil palm, if they had been allocated the estate since they made payment in 2017.

    Alternatively, they sought a refund of the N29 million, being payment for the failed contract, 10 per cent interest of the total sum calculated since 2017 until the judgment sum is fully liquidated, N1million as cost of prosecuting the suit and N10 million as general damages.

    In the Statement of Claims, the farmers said the Special Adviser on Infrastructure, advertised the government policy to the entire Boki people, as well as calls for application for those interested in the palm oil business.

    They said consequent upon the advertisement, farmers numbering over 100 put in their respective applications through the office of the Special Adviser on Infrastructure.

    Thereafter, they said the third defendant collated the various applications and shortlisted the claimants allocation and clearance letters to enable them make payments.

    The aggrieved farmers said by the allocation letters, the Claimants were directed to make payment into a designated state government account in a bank.

    The Claimants said they made payments to the tune of N29 million for the respective plots allocated to them and since the payments were made in July, 2017, they have not had access to the plots and therefore yielding no income for their investments.

    Read Also: APC reps candidate rejects result in Cross River

    They said they were frustrated when the government went ahead to revoke their respective allocations without consulting any of them.

    According to them, they had approached the Special Adviser on Infrastructure, who said the government took the decision because of the crisis surrounding the plots allocation and promised to make refunds.

    “The Claimants have collectively and severally made fruitless efforts to get the refund of their money. The Claimants are down, frustrated because most of them collected loans to pay for the failed scheme and their creditors are presently asking them for the refund of their monies,” the farmers lamented.

  • Obong of Calabar to Efik: vote Ayade

    THE Obong of Calabar in Cross River State, Edidem Ekpo Okon Abasi Otu V, yesterday, directed Efik indigenes to vote for Governor Ben Ayade.

    He said nobody or force could stop the re-election of Ayade.

    The monarch said: “…if you are an Efik son or daughter and from the southern senatorial district, withdraw yourself back to PDP and let us move forward and vote for Governor Ayade to complete his four more years, and nobody else.”

    Alluding to power rotation in the state, the monarch said nobody could distort what is on ground.

    He told the governor: “We have sat as traditional rulers and spiritual fathers and we came to a conclusion. We made a statement and that statement holds. Nobody, no power can take that second term from you.”

    The Calabar monarch further directed all  Efik to “come back home and let’s do what we have to do. Come back and let us form the nucleus and let’s build up and vote our sitting governor and his deputy”

    Assuring the governor of Efik votes, he said “there is no vacancy in the Government House. It is you that we want.”

    Obong told his council that Ayade had done much for Cross River and Efik to deserve re-election.

    “There are so many things he has done…we àre aware he doesn’t need to come here and begin to tell us because when you walk out, you will see most of these things or feel them. If you look at the state, it is calm and quiet. We have a governor and we are not looking for another one”, he said.

    Ayade told the Obong and Etubom-in-council that his vision and master plan was to create a new Cross Rver that would shift from Third World to First World,  noting that he is a governor with the fear of God, who is committed to the industrialisation of the state.

    “I am not a product of complex, cheap politics, I am a product of calculated, sophisticated and well thought out process set on a mission to decouple the state from dependence on federal allocation”, he said

    Ayade explained that upon assumption of office in 2015, the state was on the verge of economic  collapse, having lost its oil wells.

    “Our people had been reduced to want in body, spirit and, and so we needed to construct a new economy’’, he said.

    While listing his achievements in three and half years, Ayade said  despite the state being the third most indebted and 35 of 36 states  in terms of federal allocation, his administration was not owing salaries and pension, and had engaged over 8,000 appointees, and built industries.

    He assured the Obong that after his second term in 2023  power would rotate to the southern senatorial district in line with the power rotation formula.

  • Report of Appeal Court sacking Ayade is fake news- Aide

    The Chief Press Secretary to Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River State, Mr Christian Ita, has described as fake news, reports trending on social media that the governor has been sacked by the Court of Appeal in Lagos, as the governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
    According to the reports, Ayade was replaced by Mr Emmanuel Ibeshi, who was disqualified during the party’s primary elections.
    Ita, in a statement issued on Wednesday night said there was no such pending matter in the Appeal Court.
    He maintained that the case instituted in a Federal High Court in Abuja by Mr Emmanuel Ibeshi was discontinued when he filed a legitimate notice of discontinuance and as such never went on appeal.
    The report, he said, is the handiwork of political opponents.

  • Farmers drag Cross River govt. to court over Boki oil palm estate

    Forty-three farmers in Boki local government area of Cross River State have dragged the state government to court over the alleged arbitrary revocation of their plots in the Boki Oil Palm Estate, which they claimed to have made payments for.

    In a case at the High Court of Cross River State with suit number HC/535/2018 instituted by the farmers against the Government of the State, the Attorney General and the Special Adviser on Infrastructure, they sought the refunds of various amounts of money amounting to N29 million that they contributed for plots of land of Boki Palm Estates.

    In the Writ of Summons, the claimants John Erosion, Ovia Goddy Otu and Deborah Nku on behalf of 40 others said the defendants, even after payment, were unable to facilitate them taking possession of the allotted plots of land and unilaterally revoked the allocation without any refunds.

    Speaking though their lawyers, Okimasi Ojong and Co, they claimed they have suffered damages and were claiming from the defendants, jointly and severally, the sum of N100 million naira being the approximate revenue they would have made from the proceeds of sale of the oil palm, if they had been allocated the estate since they made payment in 2017.

    Alternatively, they sought a refund of the N29 million, being payment for the failed contract, 10 per cent interest of the total sum calculated since 2017 until the judgment sum is fully liquidated, N1million as cost of prosecuting the suit and N10 million as general damages

    In the Statement of Claims, the farmers said the Special Adviser on Infrastructure, advertised the government policy to the entire Boki people, as well as calls for application for those interested in the palm oil business.

    Read Also: Poultry farmers decry rising feeds prices

    They said consequent upon the advertisement, farmers numbering over 100 put in their respective applications through the office of the Special Adviser on Infrastructure.

    Thereafter, they said the third defendant collated the various applications and shortlisted the claimants allocation and clearance letters to enable them make payments.

    The aggrieved farmers said by the allocation letters, the Claimants were directed to make payment into a designated state government account in a bank.

    The Claimants said they made payments to the tune of N29 million for the respective plots allocated to them and since the payments were made in July, 2017, they have not had access to the plots and therefore yielding no income for their investments.

    They said they were frustrated when the government went ahead to revoke their respective allocations without consulting any of them.

    According to them, they had approached the Special Adviser on Infrastructure, who said the government took the decision because of the crisis surrounding the plots allocation and promised to make refunds.

    “The Claimants have collectively and severally made fruitless efforts to get the refund of their money. The Claimants are down, frustrated because most of them collected loans to pay for the failed scheme and their creditors are presently asking them for the refund of their monies,” the farmers lamented.

     

     

  • Ndoma-Egba wins polling unit, Buhari also

    The senatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Central Senatorial District of Cross River State, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, won his polling unit Akparabong in Ikom Local Government Area.

    The former Senate Leader polled 295 to beat Dr. Sandy Onor of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who scored 35 votes. The results were a combination of two voting points at the Playground Mkpanjem polling unit with code 003.

    Read also: Ogboru votes, says Buhari’ll be president till 2023

    In the same polling unit in the Presidential polls, President Muhammadu Buhari of the APC scored 171 votes, while Atiku Abubakar of the PDP got 146.

    For the Ikom/Boki Federal Constituency, House of Representatives polls in the polling unit, Victor Abang, of the APC scored 125, while the PDP candidate and incumbent, Chris Agibe, got 29 votes.

  • I’m not working for any party, says Cross River REC

    The Cross River State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) Dr Frankland Briyai has debunked reports in the online media that he was working in favour of one of the political parties in the state.

    Addressing reporters in Calabar, Briyai described such reports as fake news, saying no one has ever confronted him on the matter.

    He assured that all materials for the elections were safe.

    “We took all our sensitive materials to all the local government areas, and when the elections were postponed, the same security people who took the materials stayed with them and eventually brought them back to the central point.

    Read Also: APC Cross River and INEC’s pick

    “All the smart card readers had been returned and reconfigured,” he said.

    Briyai said the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was fully ready to discharge its duties.

    “We have sensitive materials ready. Non-sensitive materials ready. Ad hoc staff recruited. Security perfected.

    “Everything perfected. What we are waiting for are the times and date of movement.

    “I don’t think we would have any problems in terms of the forthcoming elections,” he said.