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Tag: Cross River

  • Coronavirus: We are not shutting down schools – Cross River govt

    The Cross River State Ministry of Education has faulted the announcement by the Ministry of Health, ordering that all schools in the state be closed down over the novel coronavirus.

    The Commissioner for Health, Dr Betta Edu, in a press on Friday, had ordered the closure of all schools and banned every public gathering that has over 100 people including political rally.

    Dr Edu said that the order was in obedience to the directives from the Federal Government, “This is to inform the General Public that due to the directives of the Federal Government of Nigeria to ensure that all modalities are put in place to prevent/manage spread of the COVID-19 global pandemic in Nigeria, all gatherings/events involving more than hundred (100) persons in a particular place at a particular time should be avoided.

    “As such, political parties should avoid big rallies while MDAs and organizations should avoid large social events, all Public and Private Nursery, Primary, Secondary Schools and tertiary institutions are by this notice advised to close down all academic activities on or before the 27th day of March, 2020,” the Commissioner stated.

    But Commissioner for Education, Dr Godwin Amanke in a statement issued on Monday, titled: ‘COVID-19 Pandemic and the closure in Cross River State’ expressed displeasure over the announcement of CLOSURE of schools in the state by the Commissioner for Health

    “The Cross River State Ministry of Education wishes to clear the air over the COVID-19 pandemic and academic activities in schools under its control across the State.

    “The Ministry of Education hereby states in very clear terms that we will not be shutting down our schools, both public and private, these include CRUTECH, College of Education, Akamkpa, Institute of Technology and Management Ugep and College of Health Technology, Calabar.

    “To avoid disrupting the academic calendar of schools under our controls in the state have already began examination in earnest and should be concluding same in a matter of weeks.

    “The Ministry has, however, concluded arrangements with Medical experts from the University of calabar Teaching Hospital and the General Hospital, Calabar and other relevant professionals to immediately embark on public education about the COVID-19 pandemic in the various schools and colleges across the state,” he stated.

    Dr Amanke said that his Ministry join hands with Nigerians across the country in the effort to curtail the spread of the pandemic, but wish to warn that raising false alarms and taking pre-competitive actions will only help to agitate the people of the state and lead to undue panic.

  • Driver knocks down FRSC Marshal on highway

    A Federal Road Safety Corp (FRSC) member, Cross River State Command, James Itekim, on Tuesday, narrowly escaped death after he was knocked down by an unlicensed driver.

    The incident occurred on Tuesday along the Murtala Mohammed Highway near the popular Calabar-Calabar roundabout at about 7am.

    An eyewitness, a taxi driver, who declined giving his name, said that the incident occurred when Marshals of the FRSC were carrying out their regular routine checks of vehicle particulars.

    He said “The Marshals were carrying out their regular duty of stopping vehicles and checking their particulars and other things along Calabar-Calabar roundabout when one of the drivers just drove on top speed and knocked down one of the men.

    “The Marshal in question was seriously injured with fractured bones on the face and leg, I hope he survives because the suspect hit him at a very close range.

    “He was not stopped directly, he was supposed to slow down like other vehicles, I believe his papers were not complete and out of fear he drove recklessly and made a very stupid move by speeding and knocking down the marshal in the process,” he said.

    A source at the FRSC Headquarters of the Command, who pleaded anonymity, said the culprit has been arrested and was now cooling his heels at the police station.

    “The injured Marshal has been hospitalised, his facial bone was fractured and his leg too, he need urgent surgery as we speak to prevent further damage.

    “We have insurance coverage for such occurrence but we also want the police to do their own investigation and charge the suspect to court, we are not the ones to determine what will happen, but the law should take its course.”

    The victim, our reporter was told was in a very serious critical condition.

    “As we speak, the victim was under serious critical condition. The driver has been arrested and his vehicle impounded. He was reckless because he has no licence and was trying to run away.

    When we contacted the Police Public Relations Officer, Miss Irene Ugbo, she refused to pick her calls but a Police source who pleaded that his name should not be mentioned, said that the suspect was detained at Akim Police Command.

  • APC wins Reps seat in Cross River

    APC wins Reps seat in Cross River

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Mr Alex Egbonna of the All Progressives Congress (APC), winner of the House of Representatives election for Yakurr/Abi Federal Constituency in Cross River.

    Dr Alalibo Johnson, State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), announced the result on Sunday at the collation center in Ugep, Yakurr Local Government Area.

    Alalibo said that, the APC candidate got 29,716 votes to defeat his closest opponent, Mr John Lebo of the Peoples Democratic Party, who secured 26,039 votes.

    The commission also declared Mr Davies Etta of the PDP as winner of Abi constituency seat in the State House of Assembly.

    The PDP candidate garnered 13, 349 votes to defeat his closest rirval, Mr Eyeng Iwqara of the APC who had 8, 792 votes.

    The REC, however, said that, INEC cancelled election in Afafanyi/Igonigoni Ward, consisting of eight polling units with combined total of 5,616 registered voters, due to violence.

  • Re-run polls: Gunmen abduct election officials with materials in C’River

    Re-run polls: Gunmen abduct election officials with materials in C’River

    Unknown gunmen have reportedly abducted election officials with materials that were headed for the 8 polling units in Afayna/Igoni-Igoni ward under Abi state constituency in Cross River State.

    The Federal Commissioner of Independent National Electoral Commission INEC in charge of South-South region, Dr. Mohammed Lecky told newsmen during election duties that the incident occurred in the middle of the river leading to the community.

    Backed by the state Resident Electoral Commissioner Dr. Alalibo Johnson and the Administrative Secretary of INEC in the state Mrs. Irene Ngozi Oghuma, the Federal Commissioner said the unknown gunmen accosted the Electoral officials with materials and went away with all the voting materials along with the SPO (State Presiding Officer).

    According to him, the security men that accompanied the materials and men of election duties decided to avoid casualty by not engaging the unknown armed men in the middle of the river.

    He expressed sadness over the incident but thanked God that all the NYSC members on duty and other election duty officials have returned safely to office except the SPO, whose phone is ringing but he is not picking.

    He said the total number of registered voters in the affected area where the materials have been hijacked is 5606.

    The Re-run in Cross River State affected 33 polling units covering Ekureku ward one and ward two for Abi/YAKURR Federal Constituency where Dr. Alex Ebona of the APC is aiming to retain the seat he won during the February 2019 elections.

    The Re-run also affected some wards in the Abi State House of Assembly constituency.

    Across many other polling units visited during the voting hours, there was a huge turnout of voters.

    The PDP candidate, Hon. John Gual Lebo, whose petition led to the rerun election refuse to speak to newsmen as he was seen holding meeting with his supporters at the resident of the former governor of the state.

    However, Dr. Alex Ebona, the APC candidate expressed satisfaction over the huge turnout of voters noting that the incident of hijack of material occurred in the area for the state house constituency election.

    According to him, he is told the election in the affected area will be held the next day if the problem was not resolved before close of voting.

    Dr Alex Egbona, said:” The turn out is encouraging and you know that the election is in my community. I am in touch with my community and that is why you see this unprecedented turn out.”

    “I encourage all voters to vote according to their conscience as nobody would molest them. This is democracy so vote according to your choice. But I can tell you with this development I would emerge victorious.”

    The election materials arrived very early just as voters turned out as early as 6: 30 am.

    It was also observed that the INEC officials had initial difficulty in containing the mammoth crowd, especially at Gbagaro Agbara and Egbonyi polling units within Ekureku II ward.

    Speaking on the conduct of the election, the presiding officer for Gbagaro Agbara polling unit, Mr Isaac Oke, said: “I can tell you the election materials arrived at 8:00am and we commended accreditation immediately because the voters were already on ground.

    “There is large turn out of voters as you can see. The card reader is very slow, but we promise to ensure that everybody would vote at the end of the day.

    Also speaking INEC observer, Mr Jubril Isa, commended the voters for their peaceful and orderly conduct but observed that the processes are slow.

    He enjoined INEC to try and improve upon it so that no voter is disenfranchised this exercise.

  • Cross River Gov appoints Ubi Franklin as Special Adviser

    The Governor of Cross River State, Ben Ayade has appointed Ubi Franklin as Special Adviser to the Governor on Tourism.

    He announced his appointment on his Instagram page this afternoon.

    Ubi wrote; “I, Ubi Ekapong Ofem (Ubi Franklin) wish to inform the public that I have been appointed Special Adviser on Tourism to His Excellency, Professor Benedict Ayade, Governor of Cross River State. It is indeed an honour to be deemed fit by His Excellency to serve the good and resilient people of Cross River State in this capacity.

    “More so, I am most delighted to be functioning in the Tourism sector, one sector which is dear to my heart and one which I believe I fit into appropriately considering my background in the entertainment industry”.

    “I thank God for His grace upon my life. I thank Governor Benedict Ayade for giving me this golden opportunity to serve. I thank my family, friends, and well-wishers for all the support and encouragement”.

  • Flood destroys 4,370 houses, displace 51,000 people in 212 communities in C/River

    The Cross River State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) said flood destroyed 4,370 houses and displaced over 51,000 people in 212 communities in the state.

    The Director General of SEMA, Mr Princewill Ayim, disclosed this in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Calabar.

    Ayim said that the incident occurred between July and September, adding that measures were taken to provide succour for the victims.

    According to him, some of the victims abandoned their homes for safety, as the incident had brought untold hardship on them.

    He mentioned some of the affected local government areas to include Boki, Etung, Biase, Calabar South, Calabar Municipal, Ogoja among others.

    He told NAN that some agencies intervened by providing relief materials to the affected victims across the state to ameliorate their plight.

    The DG commended the Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency and the National Emergency Management Agency for donating relief materials to the victims at different occasions.

    He also disclosed that 19 cases of fire outbreaks were recorded in the state within the period under review, adding that property worth millions of Naira were destroyed in the incident.

    “Between July to September, flood destroyed 4,370 houses and displaced over 51,000 people in 212 communities in Cross River. Some of the victims built their houses along the water channel and so they could not escape the flooding.

    “Others had poor drainage systems around their locality while some of them were dumping their refuse inside the drains, making it difficult for water to flow freely.

    “We have carried out massive awareness campaigns to enlighten residents in the state to stop building along water channels and stop dumping their refuse inside the drains,’’ he said.

    He explained that Gov. Ben Ayade of the state had at different times provided relief materials to the victims.

  • Ayade sends names of 36 commissioner-nominates to Assembly

    Gov. Ben Ayade of Cross River has forwarded second list of 36 commissioner nominees to the Cross River House of Assembly for screening and confirmation.

    The list was made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Calabar by Mr Hope Obeten, Chief Press Secretary to Speaker of the Assembly, Mr Eteng Jonah-Williams.

    The list comprises commissioner- nominees from the 18 local government areas of the state.

    According to reports, the governor had earlier sent in three names to the Assembly for screening as commissioners, thereby raising the number to 39.

    Over 80 per cent of the commissioner-nominees had earlier served in the first term of Ayade.

    Some of them are: Dr Inyang Asibong who was Commissioner for Health, Mr Asu Okang was Commiassioner for Sport of Ministry; Mr Dane Osim-Asu was in charge of Works, among others.

    Some of the new nominees are: Dr Jake Otu-Enyia, Mr Mfon Bassey, Dr Betta Edu, Mr Omang Idiege and others.

  • Cross River Assembly resumes from recess

    Cross River Assembly resumes from recess

    The Cross River House of Assembly has resumed plenary after its two months working recess.

    Mr Hope Obeten, the Press Secretary to the Speaker of the House, made this known in a statement on Tuesday in Calabar.

    “Speaker of the House, Mr Eteng Jonah-Williams wish to welcome all members to plenary and thank each and everyone for their support, cooperation and commitment in the last three months.

    “He has urged members to resume duty in full force to enable them finish all their agenda for the year.

    “The Speaker also assured that the House is further re-energized for better performance,” Obeten said.

  • Gov. Ayade suspends aide

    Gov. Ben Ayade of Cross River has suspended his Special Adviser on Budget, Mr Moses Onoh for mishandling of official communication.

    The notice of Onoh’s suspension was disclosed in a statement issued on Friday to news men in Calabar by Mr Christian Ita, Special Adviser, Media and Publicity to the governor.

    According to Ita, Onoh’s suspension which is a direct consequence of his mishandling of privilege official communication takes immediate effect.

    He warned all political appointees that the governor would not condone any abuse of office of any kind, including the leaking of privilege official communication.

  • JUST IN: Tribunal uphold Ayade’s victory as Cross River governor

    The Cross River Governorship Elections Petition Tribunal sitting in Calabar has affirmed the victory of Ben Ayade of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Ayade described the tribunal judgement as a mere reaffirmation of his resounding victory at the March 9, 2019 governorship poll.

    The governor, who spoke through his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Christian Ita, said he was not surprised at the verdict since his victory was never in doubt.

    “As I did when I won the governorship election of March 9, by dedicating my victory to God, the great people of Cross River State and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) family, let me once again rededicate today’s tribunal verdict which explicitly reinforced the will of the people to them.

    “I had no doubt that I would emerge victorious at the tribunal. I have never lost faith or confidence in our judicial system.

    “I was very confident that the tribunal would be diligent and upright in determining the petitions brought before it and it did just that today and I am happy, Cross Riverians are happy and I am sure that even the petitioners will be happy that the tribunal has acquitted itself.”

    Insisting that the affirmation of his election by the tribunal will further embolden him to deliver on his campaign promises, Ayade said: “Today’s judgement is no doubt a call for a redoubling of effort, energy, kinetics and gusto to consolidate on what my administration started four years ago, which is the aggressive industrialization of the state.”

    Details shortly…