Cross River State Government
Obudu contract debt: Appeal court reserves judgment against Cross River
The Abuja division of the Court of Appeal has reserved judgment in the appeal filed by a private firm, Zedici Capital Ltd, against the Cross River State Government over a N3.8 billion contract debt. The appellant, Zedici Capital Ltd, is the firm that remodelled the Obudu Mountain Resort in Cross River State, now a subject of litigation. The three-member panel of the Court of Appeal, headed by Justice Peter Ige, reserved the date after counsel to the parties had adopted their legal submissions for and against the appeal, that is challenging the judgment of a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), which had in 2019, refused to affirm the arbitral award to Zedici Ltd over its investment of N3.8 billion in the resort. Justice Ige announced that a date for the judgment would be comm...
June 12 protest: Police arrest Agba Jalingo
A right activist and a newspaper publisher, Agba Jalingo, has been arrested by the police in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria’s South-south. Jalingo is the publisher of Cross River Watch, an online newspaper with focus on Cross River State. He was arrested at the police headquarters, Calabar, on Friday where he went to honour an invitation by the Commissioner of Police in the State, Kayode Sikiru, Cross River Watch said in a report. The newspaper said Sikiru invited Jalingo to the police headquarters to discuss the planned nationwide June 12 protest which the latter is said to be coordinating in the state. After discussions, Jalingo was reportedly referred to another officer who informed him that the police had received a petition which accused him of being an arms dealer, the newspaper...
Cross River government warns arsonists to steer clear of state university
The Cross River State Government has warned arsonists against attempting to do damage to the University of Cross River (UNICROSS). The warning, the government says, followed intelligence reports that arsonists were set to burn down the institution. The crisis in the institution began when a graduating student, Nkasi Moses, was stabbed to death by phone thieves when he attempted to recover a stolen phone. His death led to a crisis in the institution, which resulted in the shutting down of the school by the state government The government, through Alfred Mboto, Permanent Secretary, Special Services, had threatened to deal with those behind the conspiracy,. Mboto alleged the planners were non-indigenes, but that they would face the consequences of their actions. Mboto in a statement said, “Th...
Cross River rice farmers protest unpaid salaries
At least, 300 youths engaged as Rice farmers by the Cross River State Government protested on Monday over the non-payment of three months salaries. The workers, who protested with placards at the Ministry of Agriculture in Calabar, said they worked at the state rice farm and they could no longer continue working everyday without being paid at the end of the month. According to one of the workers, they have started harvesting the rice, which they planted three months ago, yet they have not been paid their salaries. The worker said, “We are some of the people who worked in the Cross River State rice farm at the time. We resumed on May 4, this year. “We worked and they paid us salaries on the 6th of June. But they did not pay everybody because they left that day when the governor personally c...
Confusion in APC as CROSIEC fixes May 30 for council polls
The intractable crisis rocking the Cross River All Progressives Congress (APC) appears to be gathering momentum as the two factions have issued conflicting statements on the pending May 30th local government election. While a faction led by Sir John Ochala had dissociated the party from the pending local election, describing it as a “charade”, the other faction led by Mr John Etim said it is fully prepared to take part in the council poll. Since 2014, the Cross River State APC has been engaged in a leadership tussle, leading to the factionalisation of the party, even as the national leadership has made spirited efforts to settle the supremacy battle. In spite of this, the chairman of Cross River State Independent Electoral Commission (CROSIEC), Dr Mike Ushie, has fixed Saturday, May 30th f...
Task force denies 11 trucks entry to Cross River
The Cross River Government in collaboration with Peace Corps Nigeria have intercepted and sent back 11 trucks carrying Almajiri, Quranic education pupil, at the Gakem-Benue boundary of the state. Head of the taskforce team at the border, Mr Signor Omang-Idiege, told newsmen on Wednesday that the trucks were returned for carrying large numbers of Almajiri against the inter-state lockdown order. Idiege, who is the State Commissioner for Youth Development and Skill Acquisition, said that the trucks were sent back to their destination between May 4 and May 17, adding that the taskforce had continued to maintain a steady presence at the boundary. According to him, it was the desire of the state Governor, Ben Ayade, to ensure that the state remain COVID-19 free, hence the effective boundary surv...
Cross River orders five truckloads of almajiris back to destination
Cross River State government on Thursday ordered five truckloads of almajiris including other passengers from the northern part of Nigeria back to its destination. Newsmen learnt that a border patrol team, comprising of Peace Corp members, civilian Vigilantes, Border COVID-19 Taskforce had intercepted the trucks yesterday night at the Gakem border town in Bekwara LGA of the state near Benue State. A source who pleaded anonymity told Vanguard that the team was led by a Commissioner who said it was the result of intensive search and blockade of interstate vehicular travels, which his team was poised to enforce. “After a thorough check on the five trucks we discovered that most of the passengers, aside goods, were almajiris who did not meet COVID19 protocols, we had to force them to return,” ...
