The Urgent Need For State Government To Investigate Cross River Cocoa Estate

The administration of Governor Bassey Otu, ought to look into circumstances surrounding tenure elongation for cocoa allottees to remain as tenants at the government owned Cocoa Estate in Etung local government area of Cross River State.

Since the new administration began, it is claimed that cocoa allottees in the cocoa estate have not known peace as there have been a series of arrest, and litigation between state government and the sub-contractors, destabilising allottees who were unable to continue work in their farms.

According to information I gathered, problem in the cocoa sector began when the immediate past administration led by the then governor of the state, Prof. Ben Ayade, had upfront leased out 1,415 hectares out of a total of 4000 hectares of cocoa plots belonging to the state government for an additional six-year period while his administration was almost coming to an end.

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Reasons given by the Ayade administration was that it wanted to defray a sixteen year old debt, which the state government previously owed the cocoa landlord communities of Etung local government, for the parcel of land the communities donated to the state government to cultivate the cocoa estate.

The Ayade administration did that following implementation of two consent judgments it got from the high court suit No. HE/16/213 in respect of Cross River State Government Cocoa Estate in Etung, after the landlord communities dragged the government to court.

The court ruled that henceforth contractors should be paying allocation money into the smart.gov.platform, which creates room for the money upon payment to be split into two separate accounts, with 49.5 percent going into account of cocoa landlord communities and 40.5 percent going into the account of Cross River State Internal Revenue Service.

The balance of 10 percent remains with the office of Cocoa Development and Control to be used for rehabilitation of the moribund part of the estate.Reports state that Otu’s administration attempted to jettison the court arrangement, causing trouble for the government, after the allottees of 1,415 hectares approached the court to seek re-dress.

The situation gave room to both the claimants and defendants making claims and counter- claims, for right to the cocoa farms leading to the State High Court at Effraya, slamming an injunction order, restraining the government from evicting allottees from the farms.

Mba Ukweni (SAN), in his remarks said government cannot renege on agreement it entered into with allottees whose money it used to settle a debt it owed the land lord communities only to renege in theagreement.