Absence at SGF meetings: Lawmakers, others condemn Ayade

A group known as Peoples Democratic Party Renaissance Group, comprising party chieftains in Cross River State, has frowned on the continued absence of Governor Ben Ayade from the Southern Governor’s Forum meetings. They therefore asked him to work with other southern states in the interest of the state and the region.

The group in a communiqué in Calabar on Thursday after their extra-ordinary meeting said the governor’s absence from the forum’s meetings amounted to alienating the state from the various regional integration processes and interests, especially in matters relating to the issue of Value Added Tax collection.

The group comprises seven former commissioners who recently left Ayade’s cabinet and remained in the PDP, as well as seven current members of the state House of Assembly.

The communiqué partly read, “Cross River cannot be seen as standing in isolation in the current debate, championed mostly by southern governors, about who should collect VAT, the Southern Agenda to produce the next president come 2023 and the anti-open grazing law, culminating into the rising fear of insecurity of Cross Riverians.”

It noted “with utter dismay” that Cross River was among the remaining three southern states whose Houses of Assembly had yet to consider or pass anti-open grazing bill into law while the 14 other southern states had passed the bill into law.

The group urged the House of Assembly to urgency join other southern states to enact the law in the interest of regional security. They also asked the governor to desist from selling government assets listed for privatisation.

Those who signed the communiqué were some members of the state House of Assembly; Efa Esua, Friday Okpechi, Itam Abang, Elizabeth Ironbar, Fred Osim, Nelson Ofem and Frank Ovat. Others were Ntufam Gab Odu-Oji, Ntufam Chris Itafu Njah, Mr Asu Okang, Ntufam Donatus Etim, Obol Goddy Ettah, Mike Usibe, Rita Ayim, Francis Etta, and Moses Abeng Onor. Punch