L-R: Governor of Cross River State, Prince Bassey Otu and former governor, Prof. Ben Ayade
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The former governor of Cross River State, Prof. Ben Ayade and the incumbent Prince Bassey Otu are currently at each others’ jugular amid fear of backlash over loyalists of the former governor who are serving in the current administration.
Source alleged that the embattled deputy governor of the state Hon
Peter Odey who was nominated by the ex governor for the plum job may be the first casualty as the face off between the governor and his predecessor in office escalates.
Source alleged that the sins of the ex governor may be visited on the embattled deputy governor as the governor allegedly sidelined him in most decision making especially in recent appointments even from his own local government area.
The embattled governor was said to have alerted his perceived godfather and ex-governor Ayade over the subtle move by the state government to witch-hunt those perceived to be loyal to Ayade.
The alleged manhunt for key loyalists to ex-governor Ayade was said to have added a new twist in the perceived muscle flexing between Ayade and governor Otu.
Already some politicians who served in Ayade’s administration are said to have gone under as the state government allegedly initiated high level move to recover all stolen government properties under Ayade government. The move was said to have thrown the Ayade’s camp into panic mood.
Already the State Assembly is said to be leading recovery move as the state lawmakers beam their search on past politicians that served under ex-governor Ayade.
Meanwhile, the 10th Cross River State House of Assembly, led by the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Elvert Ayambem has recovered some state-owned construction equipment following an investigation into the misappropriation of 34 State-owned heavy-duty construction equipment by certain government officials during the administration of former governor Ayade.
Recall that on Thursday 22 February, 2024, the House of Assembly unanimously reaffirmed their commitment to the recovery of the construction equipment and demanded that the perpetrators of this fraudulent scheme face justice. Sequel to the Assembly’s investigative resolution, some of the construction equipment recovered and taken into the State’s custody includes 1 1050k Dozzer, 1 payloader, 1 Grader, 1 850J Dozer, 1 Backo, and 2 Excavators.
Acknowledging the arrival of the state-owned heavy-duty equipment in Calabar, Rt. Hon. Elvert Ayambem clarified that while 23 heavy-duty trucks and equipment remain on the site to be transported back to Calabar, 7 of the equipment have been successfully recovered to Calabar. He said that the slow movement to Calabar was caused by a lack of high-powered transportation vessels. The recovery exercise, he vowed, will continue into the next week.
Ayambem reaffirmed the House of Assembly’s steadfast dedication to recovering all of the 30 stolen pieces of equipment and making sure that the people, who constitute every democracy’s greatest asset, are receiving their dividends from the government. He continued by saying that the Cross River State Government will save more than 50 billion naira by recovering the heavy-duty equipment, which was originally used for rentals and the purchase of new machinery.
The speaker also emphasised that to fulfil the people’s first mantra, the 10th Assembly will keep backing the government led by Governor Otu to return Cross River to a model state.
