Efio-Ita Nyok|16 March 2016|12:36am
The Executive Governor of Cross River State, Sen. Prof. Benedict Ayade, has been out of the state for over three weeks on end. This is a characteristic trend of the present state government under Ayade. His aides usually say 'he is sourcing for investors'.
Nevertheless, this has not gone down well with some indigenes of the state. Recently, the right activist, Barr. Okoi Obono-Obla, was compelled to criticise Gov. Ayade from the perspective of the Constitution. Obono-Obla specifically argued that the governor was supposed to transfer the apparatus of government to his deputy, Professor Ivara Esu. This incited the governor to react against this submission by Obla via his Chief Press Secretary, Christian Ita in a press release captioned: 'Foreign trip: Ayade has not violated law' -Aide
*Foreign trip: Ayade has not violated law- Aide
'Cross River State Governor, Professor Ben Ayade has not violated the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for traveling out of the country without writing the Speaker of the House of Assembly, says his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Christian Ita.
Ita in a statement on Saturday scoffed at the claims by Okoi Obono-Obla that the governor was in breach of the constitution.
According to Ita, it is also not true that the governor left the state in January, stating that the governor was still in the state in February and even attended the burial of late former deputy Governor, Dr Walter Eneji in second week of February.
He maintained that the constitution mandates the governor to write the Speaker only when he is proceeding on his annual leave or medical leave.
"The governor in this instance is on a working visit to some countries, including Canada where he and some members of the state executive council are attending the biggest mining conference in the world at the invitation of the Canadian government.
"Under Section 190 of the Constitution, the governor does not need to transmit any letter to the Speaker unless he is on annual leave or medical leave .
"Under Section 193, the governor can assign his responsibility to his Deputy or a commissioner whether he is on leave or not. The Deputy Governor can only act as governor when the governor is on leave or incapable and then transmit the declaration in writing to the Speaker."
Ita urged the public to ignore the ignorance being peddled by Obla on the issue, saying he is only seeking cheap publicity'.
No sooner had Ita concluded his submission on behalf of his principal than a Cross River-born Canada-based academic, and another acerbic critic, Obasesam Okoi, divulged the deliberate attempt by Ita to obfuscate the truth about Ayade's whereabout. In his words as it appears on his Facebook page,
'Governor Ayade's Chief Press Secretary Christian Ita, in a move to discredit Chief Okoi Obono-obla's summation that Ayade's absence is in violation of the constitution, fabricated a big lie that the governor was in Canada to attend a mining conference at the invitation of the Canadian government.
Does the Canadian government organize mining conferences? The convention in Toronto was organized by the Prospectors and Developers Association from March 6-9, while the Geo-Convention in Calgary, Alberta was organized by the Geo-scientists and Engineers Association from March 7-11.
According to mining conferences updates, these are the only two conferences dealing with mining within the month of February and March.
Using a foreign government to spread lies is one of the reasons Cross Riverians have lost hope in this government and are gradually withdrawing their support. There's no accountability in a government that is run like a private business. And all the lies about the Canadian government is terribly embarrassing'.
Earlier on, the same Obasesam Okoi had challenged Ayade's absenteeism thus: 'Why on earth should the governor of Cross River State hand over the administration of state affairs to his younger brother to proceed on vacation in America when he has a Deputy Governor? And why should the Cross River State House of Assembly under the leadership of John Gaul Lebo, who is a Lawyer, tolerate such impunity as if they are stooges?'
The question becomes, Where is Governor Benedict Ayade? Why is his principal media aide hiding his whereabout? Why not come out plain with the truth about Ayade? When will Ayade return? Will Cross Riverians continue like this like 'sheeps without shepherd!? What is the position of the CRSHA on this matter? Speaker John Gaul Lebo we want you to come out and state the position of Cross River State House of Assembly on the governor's absenteeism.
We should remember that An M2 cylinder that's connects one of the chillers for Central air conditioner in the CBN building exploded, and there was no Governor's presence. Persons with disabilities demonstrated and all the Deputy Governor could say was that 'my hands is tied'. Ayade's absenteeism is evolving into a thing of national concern. I can go on and on.
#SpeakerJohnGaulLebobringbackGovernorBenAyade
Efio-Ita Nyok
Is a Blogger & the Editor of Negroid Haven
