Cross River State House of Assembly (CRHA) has hinted at moves to revoke all state owned industries concessioned by the immediate past administration of Prof Ben Ayade.
The speaker of the Assembly, Hon Elvert Ayambem stated this yesterday in a telephone conversation with LEADERSHIP Friday in Calabar.
He said the word “concession” is alien to Cross River State.
“All these concessions were illegally done, there was nothing like due process being followed.
“There wasn’t much, and so the Assembly frowned at it. And every company and asset of the state government including the Metropolitan Hotel that was sold, will be revoked.
“So long as we did our investigations and it was not properly done, we will revoke them.
“The loans acquired by the previous administration have placed us relatively on edge now. It can not be quantified because it is much and heavy, and it is relatively placing the House on the edge.
“We understand that the governor is going through a lot because of the loans. That is our worry too.
“I wish the governor had met a sizeable loan that he can repay, it would have helped a great deal. You know he is trying to finish the International Cargo Airport in Obudu.
“There is one thing I like so much about the governor. Do you know as much as most of these projects were done by the previous government, he picks those that he knows are realistic?
“He embarks on them. What is he projecting, continuity? I met with him to say, Sir, it is not every one of these projects the previous government left behind that you should listen to.
“And we discovered lately that almost all those viable ones were concessioned two days before leaving the office.
“And who are those people that these projects were concessioned to, you realise that it’s friends and family. But all of them are allocated to one person.
“You bring this one, he would say the name of the company is this, this other one the name of the company is this.
“Ninety percent ownership in those companies, I can tell you that in all of these projects you hear about concessions, no dime was paid into coffers of the state government,” he said.
The speaker stated that even though it is believed that the state government has 30 percent shares in Transcorp Hotel, there was no trace of payment made into the state government’s account.
“My members are on it. The last time they met with the management of Transcorp, they could not account for a dime paid into the state government coffers.
“Look at the garment factory, Ogoja Rice Mill, all of these industries had been concessioned, with no document to show that a dime was deposited into Cross River State government coffers,” Ayambem added.
