Obong of Calabar Slams Ayade, Calls For Interim Administration in Cross River State

The Obong of Calabar, Edidem Ekpo Okon Abasi Otu V, has called for an interim government in the state following what he described as poor governance style of Cross River Governor, Ben Ayade.

Obong made the call on Saturday when a former Governor of the state, Liyel Imoke paid him a courtesy call in the wake of the looting and destruction spree in Calabar last month.

Expressing his dissatisfaction on the handling of the security situation by Ayade, the monarch said, “I have been watching and I am so unhappy that the peace and calm we used to have here is taken away. Why? Because we have failed. Who has failed? The politicians have failed. There is need to change.

“And if I had my way, I would have said this governor should wait. Let’s set up an interim administration, so that he can start learning and looking at how administration is actually done. We don’t allow people to come in and do anything the way they like. No, there is a principle; there is a policy that should be adhered to.

“There has to be a change of attitude. Everyone should have access to the governor, and he should listen. And now that we have professor in the administration, we expected the best” he said.

“The Governor is the Chief Security officer. He should be holding security meetings regularly. This thing would not have happened, if he had called the security people together after hearing what happened in Lagos and other places” he added.