Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River State has described as a concocted lies<\/p>\n
an allegation by a Chieftain of the All Progressive Congress, APC, Chief
\nOkoi Obono-Obla, that he traveled out of the state since January and did
\nnot inform the state Assembly or handed over to his Deputy Governor.<\/p>\n
Ayade in a statement signed by his spokesman, Mr. Christian Ita said the
\nGovernor has been out of the country primarily on investment drive to
\nseveral countries.<\/p>\n
Ita said the Governor whose primary focus is to develop the Solid Mineral
\npotentials of Cross River State, attended the biggest Mining Conference in
\nCanada alongside some members of the State Executive Council.<\/p>\n
He argued that the Governor has not violated any known law of the land as
\nhis trip is a working trip aimed at positioning the state as a destination
\nfor foreign investment especially in the solid minerals sector.<\/p>\n
According to Ita, it is also not true that the governor left the state in
\nJanuary, stating that the governor was still in the state in February and
\neven attended the burial of late former deputy Governor, Dr Walter Eneji
\nin second week of February.<\/p>\n
He maintained that the constitution mandates the governor to write the
\nSpeaker only when he is proceeding on his annual leave or medical leave.<\/p>\n
“The governor in this instance is on a working visit to some countries,
\nincluding Canada where he and some members of the state executive council
\nare attending the biggest mining conference in the world at the invitation
\nof the Canadian government.<\/p>\n
“Under Section 190 of the Constitution, the governor does not need to
\ntransmit any letter to the Speaker unless he is on annual leave or medical
\nleave .<\/p>\n
“Under Section 193, the governor can assign his responsibility to his
\nDeputy or a commissioner whether he is on leave or not. The Deputy
\nGovernor can only act as governor when the governor is on leave or
\nincapable and then transmit the declaration in writing to the Speaker.”<\/p>\n
Ita urged the public to ignore the ignorance being peddled by Obla on the
\nissue, saying he is only seeking cheap publicity.<\/p>\n
Chief Obono-Obla had drawn the attention that has made Ayade\u2019s whereabouts
\na matter of intense speculation and conjecture in the State.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Governor did not tell the people if he was proceeding to leave or
\ngoing for vacation! Section 190 subsection 1 of the Constitution of the
\nFederal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), stipulates that if the
\nGovernor is going on vacation or in the event he is otherwise unable to
\ndischarge the functions of his office, he must transmit a written
\ndeclaration to the Speaker of the House of Assembly to that effect, and
\nuntil he transmits to the Speaker of the House of Assembly a written
\ndeclaration to the contrary the Deputy Governor shall perform the
\nfunctions of the Governor as Acting Governor.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince Governor Ben Ayade travelled out of the country nearly ten weeks
\nago without transmitting a written declaration to the Speaker of the House
\nof Assembly, that he is proceeding on vacation or he is otherwise unable
\nto discharge the functions of his office to enable the Deputy Governor,
\nProfessor Ivara Esu assume office as Acting Governor, there can be no
\ndoubt the Cross River State has no leader presently.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River State has described as a concocted lies an allegation by a Chieftain of the All Progressive Congress, APC, Chief Okoi Obono-Obla, that he traveled…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41344,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n