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Tag: Cross River

  • JUST IN: Police stop APC congress in Cross River as factional chairman emerges

    …seal off venue of proposed congress

    There was pandemonium in Cross River state on Sunday as over 100 fierce-looking policemen sealed off the Ikot-Ansa Town Hall, proposed venue of the congress of the All Progressives Congress in Calabar, Cross River State.

    They said the intervention was meant to avert what was referred to as ‘bloodbath’.

    Despite the blockade, a faction of the APC led by a former governor of the state, Mr. Clement Ebri; and the senator representing the central senatorial district in the National Assembly, John Owan-Enoh, elected a new chairman, Dr. Mathew Achigbe and other executive members of the party by voice votes at another venue.

    According to findings, the Ikot-Ansa Town Hall venue was sealed off as early as 9:00am following the directive by the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Hafiz Inuwa, who deployed a team of security operatives to forestall a breakdown of law and order.

    Specifically, Inuwa said he got intelligence report that there was likely to be bloodbath if the congress was conducted.

    “I got intelligence report that there would be bloodbath; so, I had to intervene.

    “A faction of the party had initially written that they wanted to hold the congress at that venue, but the chairman of the party wrote to dissociate himself from that congress.

    “We acted promptly to avert a breakdown of law and order,” he said.

    However, at the new venue where the exercise was eventually conducted within the premises of the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, the National Vice Chairman of APC, South-South, Mr. Hilliard Eta, who took charge of the affairs, Mr. John Ochala, emerged vice-chairman, while Bishop Victor Ebong was voted as secretary.

    A faction led by the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Mr. Usani Usani, had, on May 19, 2018 conducted its congress at the Cultural Centre in Calabar, which saw the emergence of Mr. Etim John as chairman.

    Speaking shortly after his election, the new factional chairman, Dr. Mathew Achigbe, said, “I thank all delegates for finding us worthy to serve the party. It is a great honour and we shall take the party to the next level.

    “We want to also thank President Buhari for all he has done for Cross River. We assure him that we would support him and also ensure that the state gives him massive votes in 2019.”

    In his comment, Senator Owan-Enoh said that the new executive has more widespread and acceptability by the party loyalists in the state.

    Other dignitaries at the venue of the state congress were a former commissioner in the Niger Delta Development Commission, Prof. Eyo Nyong, and a former member of House of Representatives, Mr. Paul Adah, among others.

  • C’ River Govt. to complete 300km of roads by 2019

    C’ River Govt. to complete 300km of roads by 2019

    The Cross River Government says its target is to complete the 300 kilometres of road projects it has embarked upon across the state by 2019.

    The state Commissioner for Works, Engr. Dane Osim-Asu, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria in Calabar.

    Osim-Asu said the roads were being constructed with a view to linking together more communities and promoting economic activities in the state.

    “The Ministry of Works has undertaken 300 kilometres of road construction targeted to be completed within the first tenure of Gov. Ben Ayade.

    “There is no project that we are carrying over to the next administration.

    “The project that will transcend into the next administration is the 274 kilometre super highway and the Bakassi deep sea port.

    “We have completed over 150 kilometres of roads in three years. I can assure Cross rive people that by 2019, we will hit the target of 300 kilometres of roads across the state.

    “We have other projects including the Arthur Jarvis University road in Akpabuyo Local Government Area (LGA) and the Ikot Effangha road in Akamkpa LGA.

    “There are also the Akpet Central road leading to Ogbe in Biase and the Ovukwa Junction road in Obubra Local Government Area, among others.

    “All these roads have reached an appreciable stage because the priming, stone base and asphalting have equally been done,’’ he said.

    He listed the completed roads ready for inauguration as the Usung-Usuk road in Odukpani LGA, Prof. Ben Ayade Boulevard in Ugep urban and the state Housing Estate road, Ishibori, Ogoja LGA.

    Osim-Asu said that the state government was determined to ensure that all local government areas in the state benefitted from rural road construction.

    He told NAN that the road in Boki LGA which linked Boki East and West, giving communities in BOki East access to the local government headquarters in Boje, was 90 per cent completed.

    According to him, in spite of the limited revenue accruing to the state from the Federation Account, the infrastructure was provided to give the people a sense of belonging.

    On local content, he said that the ministry had engaged indigenous companies in over 70 per cent of the jobs.

    The commissioner said that the ministry had also used direct in executing projects due to its limited resources.

    Osi-Asu said that slow response of some contractors to government’s call to maintain steady presence at their project sites was a big challenge to progress of work in the ministry.

     

  • Plantation crisis: C’ River Govt. inaugurates commission of inquiry

    The Cross River Government on Friday inaugurated a six-man Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the crisis in Boki Oil Palm Plantation, with a charge to identify its remote and immediate causes.

    Inaugurating the commission, the Deputy Governor, Prof. Ivara Esu, said: “government can no longer tolerate the crisis which led to the destruction of lives and property in Boki Local Government Area.’’

    Esu said that the state government was aware of a group of persons that had been sponsoring the crisis since 2016 when it effected a change in the management.

    “It is in this regards that government deemed it necessary to inaugurate this commission of inquiry with a view to bringing speedily end to the unfortunate incident,” he said.

    The deputy governor charged the commission to investigate the activities of the estate, identify the causes of the crisis and the major groups and individuals involved in it.

    Other terms of reference given to the commission were to identify the extent of involvement of those identified and make recommendations for their possible prosecution.

    The commission is also expected to identify all those who have died in the crisis and make recommendations on how to manage the estate in the interim and in the future.

    He further charged the commission to ensure that all the host communities to the oil palm estate benefited maximally from it.

    In his response, the Chairman of the commission, Justice Maurice Eneji, thanked the state government for finding the members worthy for the assignment.

    Eneji pledged that members of the commission would live above board in carrying out the assignment.

    He appealed to the people of Boki to use the commission to express their grievances and proffer solutions for peace to prevail in the area.

    The chairman promised to use his personal experience and relationship with the people to engender amicable resolution of the crisis.

    “I also appeal to all stakeholders within and outside Boki to support the commission to enable it to succeed in it assignment’’ he said.

    Other members of the commission are Justice Edem Kufre, Pastor Sam Inyang, Rev. Mercy Akpama, Mr. Jude Ngaji and Mr. Patrick Agida.

     

  • Ayade funds campaign for collection of PVC, wants paradigm shift

    Ayade funds campaign for collection of PVC, wants paradigm shift

    Cross River State Governor, Prof. Ben Ayade has called on residents of the state to ensure that they register and collect their Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC) before the 2019 elections.

    Ayade made the call when he received a set of his appointees under the aegis of Special Assistants Network (SAN), who are running an advocacy programme to encourage the collection of PVCs.

    In order to aid the group achieve effective mobilization, the governor announced the release of N9 million for the exercise across the 18 council areas of the state.

    Ayade who lamented the poor outlay of monthly revenue allocated to the state attributed the shortfall to record of over ten years population figure, saying that there was need to mobilize the populace to come out and get registered to reflect the current reality that will translate into economic terms.

    “This campaign is very important because it is not all about my re-election but for the sake of Cross River State that has been cheated over the years due to the non-challant attitude of the populace on issues as sensitive as voters registration and we must change the paradigm by ensuring everyone comes out and get registered and collect their PVCs,” he said.

    Continuing, he disclosed that “Cross River State is over 4.5 million in terms of population size, but records continue to place it at 2.3 million. What a falsehood? And we have been on this for the past ten years which is why I am supporting this campaign to change the paradigm because whatever figure you get also accounts for developmental indices from the Federal Government”.

    While thanking his aides for the initiative with a promise to provide them with the necessary logistics, Ayade further charged: “Please ensure that everybody of voting age is registered in your various wards not only for the 2019 election but to ensure that true adults population of the state will be reflected in any exercise carried out by any organization”.

    Leader of the group and Special Assistant on Peace and Reconciliation, Mr. Charles Ushie, stated that the essence of the network was to sensitize the citizenry on the need to equip themselves with the PVC ahead of the general election, adding that they will also ensure that those who were yet to register were encouraged to do so across the 196 wards of the 18 local government areas of the state.

    He thanked the governor for believing in their capacity to serve the state and promised to do their best to ensure that their people, especially those at the grassroots were fully mobilized for the exercise.

    According to him, this would be a token of their contribution to support the re-election of Governor Ayade, given his track record of performance, which he noted has resulted in transforming the socio-economic landscape of the state in the last three years.

     

  • Ayade happy with pace of work on Tinapa-Odukpani

    Cross River Governor, Prof Ben Ayade has expressed satisfaction with the speed of work at the ongoing dualization of Tinapa-Odukpani Junction federal road being undertaken by the state government.

    Ayade therefore urged the contractors to take advantage of the season to speed up the work in order to beat the deadline.

    The governor who commended the contractors for the seriousness with which the work was being approached disclosed that embarking on the dualization of the road which comes with a flyover by the state was purely a social service.

    Speaking while inspecting progress of work on the 15km stretch road, Ayade said: “There is no chance of recouping the funds being used for the dualization of the road since it is a federal government road. The government at the centre is not ready to make any refund and yet the road cannot be tolled. So this is absolutely a social service.”

    According to him, “after years of pleading with the Federal government to give us the opportunity to reconstruct this road and for them to approve that they will refund the money, the federal government has insisted that if we have to do the road, it would be totally at the expense of the state as it was not ready to refund.”

    Ayade said the number of deaths of motorists as man-hour loss by Cross River citizens along the road was an issue of concern to him, thus his decision to dualise the road.

    Continuing, the governor explained that “as we speak today, Cross River has N25 billion in the hands of federal government from previous interventions, certified and approved for refund. These monies have been held up there, so we are in a situation where either you do it or your people die. We have taken a decision to do it at the cost that the state itself can’t even afford. So we are just working with the intellect to drive the process.”

    According to the governor, “this is the only road that takes you into Calabar, there is no other road and for you to come into a dual carriage way into Calabar, it gives you the ambience and elegance.”

    He further added that “the road therefore, is designed with a major median which is intended to provide green canopy cover for both sides with spaghetti flyover at Odukpani junction.”

    He noted that “ordinarily for a diamond interchange, you really don’t need the level of such sophisticated flyover, but as a state, it is good to be the first state, so let Calabar also present to Nigeria first spaghetti flyover just like we have the first smart city and the first agro-tourism.”

     

  • Ayade receives commendation for restoring peace to warring Boki communities

    Ayade receives commendation for restoring peace to warring Boki communities

    Cross River State governor, Professor Ben Ayade has been commended for restoring normalcy to two warring communities in Boki Local Government Area.

    The commendation was made by the Director General of Cross River State Electrification Agency, Dr Jake Otu Enyia.

    Enyia, a former member of the state House of Assembly said the governor deserves the commendation given the dispatch with which the drafted soldiers to intervene in the war between Beebo and Okwabang communities in the Easthern axis of Boki LGA.

    According to him, the deployment of a detachment of men of the Nigerian army from Edor Army Barracks to the area by the governorwas timely and has led to the restoration of peace in the area

    He opined that with the cessation of hostilities, Boki people including traditional rulers, the elite and political class as well as the Boki supreme socio-cultural body, Ochibe Bokyi, should rise in one voice to address the matter identifying both the remote and immediate causes of the dispute with a view to forestall future occurrence.

    He urged the people to embrace peaceful co existence to further the course of humanity , and to continue to attract government’s developmental projects.

    He said the people should demonstrate the lessons of the season of Lent which harps on forgiveness, love, sharing and giving freely.

    “As BOKI Local Government council Chairman between 2004 and 2007, issues of land dispute in this area were amicably resolved by the intervention of the council and traditional rulers.

    “May I as well urged His Excellency to set up either an administrative or judicial panel of enquiry to determine the issues at stake with a view to addressing this matter With finality.”

    He appealed to the youths as leaders of today and tomorrow to stop inhibiting their future as any life taken by brutish means over a free gift of “our creator Will incur the wrath of God the Almighty. May God touch our hearts and minds to forgive one another.”

     

  • Cross River receives implementation plan for state health insurance scheme

    The Cross River Government says it will soon commence full implementation of the State Health Insurance Scheme (SHIS) to make healthcare delivery accessible to the people.

    The State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mrs Rosemary Archibong, made this known on Monday after receiving the draft copy of the implementation plan for the scheme.

    An NGO, Health, Finance and Governance, presented the implementation plan to the state government through the commissioner in Calabar.

    Archibong, represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Mr Aye Henshaw, thanked the NGO and their partners, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), for producing the document.

    “I thank you so much for this document which, I am sure was painstakingly done.

    “I have hope that this document will guide the state government in making healthcare delivery very accessible to the people.

    “Health Finance and Governance has always shown us the way to follow.

    “We are going to look at the document critically and I assure you that we will implement it for the benefit of the people,’’ she said.

    Also, Mr Godwin Iyala, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Insurance, said: “We are at the point of flagging off the scheme by the governor and implementation will commence immediately.

    “We have selected three Primary Healthcare centres in each local government area and equipped them as a take-off points, while we continue working on others across the state,’’ he said.

    The representative of Health, Finance and Governance, Mr Somtochukwu Mbelu, thanked the state government for appointing the organisation as its guide.

    Mbelu urged operators of the project to make full and proper use of the document to achieve maximum result.

     

  • C/River Govt. inaugurates 2018 measles immunisation campaign

    Cross River government on Wednesday, inaugurated the 2018, two-weeks measles immunisation campaign for children between 9 months and five years across the state.

    The State Deputy Governor, Prof. Ivara Esu, who inaugurated the exercise in Calabar, assured the people that the state would achieve 100 per cent coverage across in its 18 local government areas.

    Esu explained that the immunisation would prevent children from untimely death and other serious lifelong complications associated with the viral diseases.

    He said that the state had not failed to release its counterpart funding for measles campaign and other immunisation activities because of the need to enhance community protection against diseases.

    The deputy governor called on stakeholders to play their key role in ensure vaccination of every child in the state.

    “Cross River is very passionate about this exercise and we want nothing less than 100 per cent success.

    “We want to ensure that all the hard-to-reach areas are adequately covered within this first phase of the campaign,’’ he said.

    Dr Inyang Asibong, the Commissioner for Health, also called on stakeholders and community heads to join hands with the state government through mass mobilisation of children for the exercise to make it a success.

    Dr Betta Edu, Director-General, Cross River Primary Healthcare Development Agency, said that the target was to get every child between 9 and 59 months vaccinated across the state.

    She thanked Gov. Prof. Ben Ayade for his support which she said had enabled the agency to reach out to hard-to-reach areas where most of the asylum seekers, mostly children, were settled.

    “This is the time to protect every child from mortality associated with measles and every other complications like blindness and deafness,’’ she said.

    Dr Tom Igbu, Head of World Health Organisation (WHO) in the state, who spoke on behalf of development partners said the story of health in Cross River had improved due to the premium the state government placed on the sector.

     

  • 3000 youth to benefit from Conditional Cash Transfer programme in Cross River

    Cross River State Governor, Professor Ben Ayade at the weekend announced that 3000 youth from the Central Senatorial District are to be captured under the Conditional Cash Transfer programme.

    The governor made the disclosure at the Ikom Township Stadium where tens of thousands of people held a rally to compel him to seek a second term in office.

    Ayade reiterated his promise to change the lives of the people for the better.

    “Upon my honour, my character, my integrity, exposure, wealth and fear of God, I will make a difference. I am going to bring prosperity and hope to these young faces,” he told enthusiastic crowd.

    TheNewsGuru reports the endorsement rally was organised by six local government areas of Abi, Obubra, Yarkurr, Etung, Boki and Ikom which make the Central senatorial district of the state.

    In a motion moved by the House of Representatives member representing Obubra/Etung Federal constituency, Hon Mike Etaba and seconded by another lawmaker representing Ikom 1state constituency, Hon Fred Osim, the people resolved that no son or daughter from the senatorial district should vie for the office of Governor except the present occupier.

    Billed to start by 10 in the morning, but as early as 8am, over 30,000 people were already at the Ikom stadium with various groups and associations decked in their regalia and bearing placards which bore, “Ayade 100% undiluted,” “Ayade, Eye of Cross River State 2019,” “Central says yes to Ayade,” “Central Cross River is sure for Ayade 2019,” “Code 888,” among others.

    Speakers at the event took time to compel Ayade to accept the endorsement and seek another term in office to enable him complete the various programs and projects initiated by his administration.

    Chairman of the occasion and former military administrator of Bayelsa State, Col Pam Ogar, rtd said, “this exercise is initiated by a willing people to motivate you to come out by 2019. We give you our prayers, accept this endorsement willingly, we are following and watching you to go beyond and do brilliantly well all the penciled programs and projects you have enumerated.”

    For a former commissioner in the state, Ntufam Sandy Onor, the event was a sweet reunion, adding, “many high profile movements have returned to the party hence the political osmosis are now on ground to clinch elective positions.”

    Giving assurances on machinery put on ground to defeat political opponents, Onor said, “In Etung, the opposition will be defeated; In Ikom they will be worsted; In Boki they will be exterminated; In Obubra they will be decapitated; In Yarkurr they will be decimated and in Abi they will be completely rested.”

    In his remarks, Dr Pius Tawo described Ayade as one who, not only understands development, but a strategic partner that will take Cross River State to prosperity, adding that, “the projects initiated by Ayade will recalibrate the state completely.”

    Speaking on behalf of political appointees from the zone, the Commissioner for Education, Obol Goddy Etta said: “We are here to endorse and to present to you an order of mandamus. You must actualise the 888 code because you can not leave us half way,” adding that, “we in the central have contributed money to buy your form.”

    Others who spoke including AVM Eko Osim, Barr Chris Agara, Vero Obi, Walter Ajogbor and Patrick Iwara argued that the endorsement was not as a result of the traditional norm but based on performances within a short period, pointing out that Ayade represents ideas, visions and dreams.

     

  • Police kill man over missing cow in Cross River

    There was tension in Itigidi, headquarters of Abi Local Government Area of Cross River State, following the alleged murder of a community leader and mortician, Mr. Isong Nkanu aka Isong No Joke, by the Police.

    The incident was triggered after some village chiefs and the youth leader were invited by the Police and later detained over an issue that started sometime in October 2017, when some herdsmen allegedly reported that one of their cows was killed by unknown persons in the community.

    It was gathered that their detention irked the community youths, who went on protest during which one of them was shot dead by the Police.

    A community leader, who pleaded anonymity,said that they thought the matter had been taken care of, but were surprised that the Itigidi Police Division invited their chiefs, including the youth leader.

    The source said: “When the chiefs and our youth leader were invited, they honoured the invitation as law-abiding citizens, but were detained and this infuriated the entire community, which led to a protest.

    “The youths went on a protest without any weapon or arms; they went to register their grievances over the arrests. “It shows they have respect for authority and law; it was during the demonstration that Isong, one of the community leaders, was shot dead by Police.”

    Contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Irene Ugbo, said some herdsmen had complained some months ago that indigenes of the Itigidi community killed their cows. Her words: “The youths got wrong information; they thought the Police at Ugep had taken their chief and youth leader to Calabar, not knowing they were only invited for a peace talk and for the matter to be resolved amicably.

    “On that strength, we invited the community leader to make peace. Unfortunately, the youths in the community read a different meaning to the invitation of their community leaders. “They became restive and threatened to burn down Itigidi Police Station. There was intervention by the Police and, in the process, one person died.”