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Tag: Cross River

  • My performance, my strength for re-election – Ayade

    Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River has said that his performance in the last three years stands out as a stregth in his bid for reelection in March.

    He also said that the principle of rotation of governorship among the senatorial zones of the state makes it expedient for the residents to maintain the tradition.

    At a rally in Yala local governmwnt area on Wednesday, Ayade expressed fulfilment on the way the welfare of residents had been captured during his three years in office.

    He said that there were massive political appointments for youths, recruitment of teachers and nurses amongt others in the state in under to improve on the living standards of the people.

    “I know I have done a lot by appointing 6,000 appointees, engaged 2,500 teachers and 1,000 nurses among others, but surely I will know no sleep until everyone of you here gets a job.

    “This is the turn of northern Cross River, both south and central have had their different eight years as governors, the north must be allowed to complete their eight years too,’’ he said.

    The governor disclosed that the Okpoma water project in Yala has been completed among other projects aimed at alleviating the pains of the people.

    The Paramount Ruler of Yala Local Government Area, Chief Godwin Denis-Odu, said the people of Yala have decided that Ayade must go back to government house to complete his performance.

    “We are the oracle, we have spoken that our son must return, so shall it be,’’ he said.

    Also, a stalwart of the All Progressives Party (APC) and a former governorship aspirant, Dr Julius Okpotu, said Ayade deserves a second term on account of his sterling performance in office.

    “Ayade’s support base cuts across party lines, even members of the APC will work to get him re-elected.

    “I am here because of the good works of Governor Ayade. He has worked tirelessly to change the story of Cross River. His re-election therefore, will be a smooth sail,’’ he said.

    Read Also: ‘Ayade can’t stand opposition’

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Okpotu had decamped to the People’s Democratic Party during the rally.

    At the Ogoja local government township stadium, thousands of party faithful, support groups, youths, traders as well as various social groups came out in their numbers to receive Ayade.

    The governor assured the people that his second term in office would be better and urged the people to come out en mass and vote for him on March 2.

    Chanting solidarity songs, the enthusiastic crowd, in appreciation of Ayade’s developmental strides, vowed to protect their votes for the governor’s return.

     

  • Ayade orders police search of campaign convoys

    The Governor of Cross River State, Professor Ben Ayade has directed the State Commissioner of Police to immediately commence a stop and search operation of all political parties campaign convoys for illegal arms.

    Read Also: ‘ Ayade can’t stand opposition’

    A statement by Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Christian Ita, on Monday read, “This directive is imperative following security reports that indicate that some politicians and their supporters were stockpiling arms and ammunition ahead of the forthcoming elections.

    “The Governor assures the Citizens of adequate security before, during and after the election.“

  • Onnoghen: Cross River NBA down tools

    The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Cross River State on Monday withdrew all services in protest against what they described as the unconstitutional attempt by the executive arm of the Federal Government to intimidate, coerce, and desecrate the judiciary through the proposed arraignment of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen.

    Reading a communiqué issued and signed by the three Branches that make up the NBA in the state, at the end of a joint Emergency General Meeting held at the State Judiciary Headquarters, High Court Complex in Calabar, the Chairman of the Calabar Branch, Dr. Emmanuel Idaka, said they will resist any attempt by the Federal government to arraign the CJN.

    According to the six point Communiqué, the Cross River State branch of NBA was wholly in support of and adopted the position of Association on the issue as contained in the statement issued and signed by the President, Paul Usoro.

    “We condemn in its entirety the unlawful manner in which the Federal Government and its agencies have assaulted, ridiculed and degraded the revered office of the Chief Justice Nigeria and indeed the entire Judiciary in the country by orchestrated media trial of the CJN.

    “Whilst not condoning corruption in all its ramifications, we insist that, the rule of law must be followed by the Federal Government of Nigeria in its avowed fight against corruption, especially as it has to do with the proposed arraignment of the CJN or any other Judicial officer in the Federal Republic of Nigeria as laid down in its locus classsicus of Nganjiwa vs FRN(2017)LPELR-43391(CA), where the Court of Appeal made it absolutely clear that any misconduct attached to the office and function of a judicial officer must first be reported to and handled by the National Judicial Council (NJC) pursuant to the relevant provisions of the law.

    “We are aware that all these attempts are intended to precipitate the unlawful removal from office of the CJN which position they originally did not want him to occupy. It is pertinent to draw the attention of the initiators of this bizarre transaction to the fact that, the removal of the CJN is regulated by the mandatory provisions of section 292(1) (a) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999(As amended) which can only be effected by the President of the FRN acting on an address supported by two thirds majority of the Senate.

    “Democracy strives under the rule of law . The present administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, having come under a constitutional democracy and not being a military dictatorship, must in all its dealings with the citizens of Nigeria and other Arms of the Government, abide by the Rule of Law,” they stated.

  • C/River donates to victims of tanker explosion

    The Cross River Government has donated medical equipment to the emergency ward of the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH) to aid the victims of the fuel tanker explosion.

    The equipment included cartons of intravenous fluids, hand sanitizers, wound dressing equipment among others.

    The State Commissioner for Health, Dr Inyang Asibong, who donated the equipment to the hospital on Saturday in Calabar, described the incident as `tragic and sudden’.

    Some people were confirmed dead on Friday night at Odukpani local government area when an explosion occurred while they were scooping fuel from a fallen tanker laden with petroleum product.

    Asibong said that the visit to the hospital was to access the situation and donate the equipment for the treatment of the survivors.

    She explained that as soon as the victims were brought into the hospital, the ministry had to mobilise its personnel to join their colleagues in the UCTH to respond timely to the victims.

    “We don’t have the exact number of casualty at the moment, but I know that we have lost a dozen of them due to the explosion.

    Read Also: NSCDC trains 70 security guards in C/River

    “As a state, we are sad over the death of dozens of persons who lost their lives while trying to scoop fuel from a fallen tanker at Odukpani.

    “People must stop the act of scooping fuel whenever a tanker falls in their area. Many persons have died in the past through this.

    “We would do everything possible as a state to make sure that we don’t lose these ones,’’ she said.

    The commissioner commiserated with the families of those that lost their lives, praying that the survivors that are currently receiving treatment should not lose their lives.

    She advised residents of the state to always call on competent authorities to manage such emergency cases.

    Prof. Thomas Agan, the Chief Medical Director of UCTH, told NAN in an interview that 18 persons were brought into the hospital on Friday night.

    Agan explained that out of the 18 victims, 15 were adults while three were children, adding that one victim died on arrival while another one died later at night.

    “As we speak, we have 16 victims in our facility. 18 victims were brought in for treatment and two of them have died.

    “The 16 victims are fairly stable. We need support from corporate bodies, individuals and groups because we have exhausted our internal consumables,’’ he said.

    NAN

     

  • Truck laden with INEC ballot papers arrested

    Some youths in Ogoja local government area of Cross River State, on Thursday, apprehended a commercial truck, conveying ballot papers travelling out of the state.

    The Nation gathered that the truck, with Enugu State registration number, was stopped by youths in Egbung community, during a routine check of vehicles by members of a taskforce working along the highway in the community.

    An eyewitness said when the truck was opened, it was discovered that it was laden with unused ballot papers belonging to Boki local government for 2015 State Constituency election, as well as computer equipment and documents.

    Read Also: ASUU bars members from participating in 2019 elections

    The eyewitness said the driver claimed to have the authority of INEC to move them from Calabar where he said he was coming from.

    “After being interrogated by the task force, he then said he was not certain of his destination as and this raised suspicion and he was apprehended and the police was invited,” the eyewitness said.

    Resident Electoral Commissioner for Cross River State, Dr Frankland Briyai, said he had been notified of the development and had reported it to appropriate security agencies for investigation.

    He said he will speak more on the matter when investigations have been concluded.

  • Police warn PDP, APC members against billboard destruction

    The Cross River Police Command has warned supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) to desist from destroying billboards of governorship candidates across the state.

    The command gave the warning in a statement through its Public Relations Officer (PRO), DSP Irene Ugbo, on Wednesday in Calabar.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the warning was sequel to the complaint by the governorship candidates of both political parties, following the destruction of their billboards by some alleged thugs.

    Read Also: Cross River: Owan-Enoh extends olive branch to Usani

    “It has come to our knowledge that some members of both political parties in the state are going about defacing and tearing other people’s posters/billboards and causing security breach in the state.

    “The command wants to categorically state that anyone or group of persons found in the ugly act will be arrested and made to face the wrath of the law,’’ he said.

  • C/River guber: Court rejects Usani’s claim to APC ticket

    A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Apo, Abuja has rejected the claim by Niger Delta Affairs Minister, Pastor Usani Uguru Usani to being the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Cross River State.

    Justice Olukayode Adeniyi, a judgment on Monday, dismissed a suit filed by Usani, in which he had, among others, sought to be declared the actual winner of the party’s governorship primary held late last year.

    Justice Adeniyi, who resolved all the issues raised by Usani for determination against him, noted that documentary evidence tendered by the claimant and facts in his supporting affidavits showed vital legal flaws, which the court could not overlook.

    The judge noted, for instance, that while Usani claimed to have won the primary conducted on September 30, 2018, a report of the primary, issued by the Resident Electoral Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INRC) in Cross River, tendered by the claimant, showed that the primary was held between September 30 and October 1, 2018.

    Read Also: Buratai condoles with Shagari family

    Justice Adeniyi also noted that by the documentary evidence tendered by Usani, it was clear that the primary he claimed to have won was an illegal one, because it was conducted solely by the Cross River State’s APC Executive which has no power, under the law to conduct state governorship primary.

    Usani had, in the suit, prayed the court to compel the APC to send his name to INEC, in the place of Senator John Owan Enoh, as its governorship candidate for Cross River State.

    Details later.

  • Ayade lies about everything, cannot stand opposition – Owan-Enoh

    The Cross River State governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator John Owan-Enoh, has accused Governor Ben Ayade of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of lying about everything as far the programmes and policies of government are concerned.

    In a press conference in Calabar, Owan-Enoh also said the present administration in the state could not withstand position and was doing everything it could to stifle them.

    Owan-Enoh, who presently represents Cross River Central in the Senate, in the state needed to be change, and he was in the race to restore hope and confidence in the people.

    He said, “This is an administration that lies on everything. It is not the kind of thing that we are looking forward to. The government needs to be changed. This administration doesn’t know Cross River. It is not interested in Cross River and its future and we need to change it. This administration cannot stand competition because of how woefully they have done. And they try to stamp out opposition. This administration tries to posture in Abuja as being friendly to President Muhammadu Buhari, but back at home, it is fighting opposition and doing things that are unspeakable.

    “People ask me where my billboards are. My billboards are not here in Calabar particularly because this administration cannot stand seeing my billboards. They were pulling them down.

    “Officials of the campaign organization are getting intimidating calls everyday. We are in a civil society and it is important this administration understands so. It needs to know that the election is going to be competitive. It is going to be keenly contested. We have candidates for every state constituency, every federal constituency, and the senatorial district and the governorship candidate.

    “I would like to appeal to the generality of Cross Riverians, those at home and those in diaspora that the 2019 governorship election is going to be a very consequential election. Let everyone get involved.

    Read Also: Ayade enjoins youths to embrace farming

    Better days are possible again. None of the two previously civilian administration got elected on the altar of ethnicity. They got elected on the basis of their credentials and what they were expected to do and they delivered in Cross River.

    “Cross River is in an unusual situation and requires an unusual response. 2019 is not about the north, central or south districts of the state. It is about Cross River and about who has the blueprint to deliver, who can be trusted, who can take us to the next level, and who can change the narrative of the state.

    “We are in an era where government needs to create the enabling environment for industrialists, for the private sector to come and invest. The public government has no business going about building industries. That is the best way to go about stealing the resources of the state. Government has no business building industries in the year 2019. Any government that does so wants to encourage corruption. It wants to put hands in the public till. That is what it is.

    “The greatest achievement of this administration which it talks about every day is the garment factory. I challenge this administration to come clean first on the true ownership of the garment factory, secondly, with how much was spent to build and thirdly, three and a half years later, how much has that garment factory generated for the state.

    “This administration spends time on window dressing. It cannot get anything right. I would run an administration that would be sincere. I believe in what I am doing. When Liyel Imoke handed over to Ayade in 2915 Cross River became the 11th largest economy in Nigeria. The latest statistics indicate we are at 36. We are at rock bottom as a state. As a state, how bad can it get before people take action to change the course of their lives. The 2019 governorship election is about the future of Cross River.”

    Owan-Enoh called on disgruntled party men and women to work together to oust the present government in the state.

    “The APC is one big family. I would like to call for cooperation, for reconciliation. I appeal that we all get back together. The matters that seek to divide us are not as important as the matter that confronts us as a state. We should get back together in one party and win this election. Cross Riverians expect us and are praying for us to win, even those who are appointed in his government. People are yearning for redemption and today I take up the challenge,” he said.

  • NSCDC trains 70 security guards in C/River

    The Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps ( NSCDC ) has trained no fewer than 70 private guards from 20 security outfits in Cross River.

    The 3-day training was aimed at building the capacity and knowledge of the private security guards towards the protection of companies, schools, government agencies and others.

    Speaking on Sunday in Calabar, Mr Stephen Lar, Commandant of NSCDC in the state, said that the corps was saddled with the responsibility of monitoring, supervising and training private guards companies in the country.

    Lar said that the training was timely in view of the present security challenges in the country, adding that Cross River was currently faced with cases of cultism, armed robbery, bunkering and other social vices.

    “It is on this note that we thought it necessary to collaborate with the private companies to ensure that we nip this crime in the bud. I am happy that you were trained on Information gathering, fitness and guard duties.

    “I have gone through the syllabus that you were trained and I have seen that you have a greater role to play to ensure that Cross River is secured, free of crime and criminality.

    “No security outfit can succeed without information. Security of a place does not mean carrying guns alone, it means getting the information as to what is about to happen so that we can nip it in the bud.

    Read Also: Police arrest community leader, others for alleged illegal arms possession

    “You are going back to the grassroot, you operate at different business centres, you are bound to hear information and see things; I urge you to report such to the NSCDC and other security agencies,’’ he said.

    He urged other companies to also send their guards to the NSCDC for special security training.

    Also speaking, Mr JamHil Ogwumike, the NSCDC Deputy Commandant in-charge of Private Guards Company, said that the training was carried out with a view to curb the menace of social vices associated with the yuletide season and beyond.

    Ogwumike lauded the participants for their good conduct during the training, adding that the knowledge impacted on them would expand their approach to security issues.

    Responding on behalf of the participants, Mr David Akpan, from Great Hope Security Limited, thanked the NSCDC for the training, saying that they have learnt a lot on how to police their environment.

  • Court reverses APC’s substitution of Reps candidate in Cross River

    •Orders APC, INEC to recognise Abang

    A Federal High Court in Abuja has voided the decision by the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Cross Rivers State to substitute the name of Victor Abang for Cetus Obun as its candidate for the House of Representative seat of Ikom/Boki Federal Constituency of Cross Rivers State for the 2019 general election.

    Justice Nnamdi Dimgba, in a judgment on December 18 this year, ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to accept the name of Abang as a replacement for Obun, earlier submitted by the party, as the APC’s authentic candidate for the election.

    Justice Dimgba gave an order of mandatory injunction compelling INEC to “recognise and publish the name of the plaintiff (Victor Abang) as the candidate of the 1st defendant (APC) for the House of Representatives seat of Ikon/Boki Federal Constituency of Cross Rivers State for the 2019 general election.”

    The judgment was on a suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1270/2018 filed by Victor Abang, With APC, Cetus Obun and INEC as defendants.

    Justice Dimgba directed the APC to forthwith, submit the name of Abang to INEC as its candidate for the election “being the aspirant, who scored the highest number of votes at the 1st defendant’s (APC’s) primary election in respect of the House of Representatives seat of Ikom/Boki Federal Constituency.

    The judge held that Abang was the winner of the primary election conducted by the APC for the House of Representatives seat of Ikom/Boki Constituency of Cross River state and that he is entitled to have his name forwarded to INEC.

    “A declaration is hereby made that the submission of the name of the 2nd defendant (Obun) instead of the plaintiff (Abang) as candidate of the 1st defendant (APC) for the House of Representatives seat of Ikom/Boki Constituency of Cross River State for the 2019 general election by the 1st defendant to the 3rd defendant (INEC) and the acceptance of same by the 3rd defendant is illegal, null, void and of no effect whatsoever”, the judge held.

    Justice Dimgba also restrained Obun from parading himself as the APC’s candidate for election into the House of Representatives seat of Ikom/Boki Constituency of Cross River State.

    The judge consequently directed APC to submit Abang’s name to INEC as its candidate for election into the House of Representatives seat of Ikom/Boki Constituency of Cross River State.

    INEC was also directed to forthwith substitute Abang’s name with that of Obun.