Gov. Ayade Relieves Four Commissioners Duty

The Governor of Cross River State, Ben Ayade, has announced the sack of four commissioners from his cabinet.

This was contained in a statement by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Publicity, Christian Ita, on Monday in Calabar.

The commissioners affected include Mike Uribe (New City Development), Rita Ayim (Women Affairs), Asu Okang (Information), and Ntufam Etim (Climate Change).

Meanwhile, the Governor also relieved five other appointees of their appointments which include Leo Inyambe, Orok Duke, Victor Okon, John Bassey, and Mbeh Agbiji.

Although the Governor gave no reason for his action, he appreciated the affected commissioners and appointees for their services to the state and wished them well in their future endeavours.

The affected commissioners were mandated to return all government properties and vehicles in their possession to the Chief of Staff to the Governor.

It is worthy to note that Governor Ayade is the second governor in six months to defect from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Ayade who came on board as the governor of Cross Rivers State in 2015 on the platform of the PDP, was re-elected in 2019.

He had on May 20, announced his defection to the ruling party where he was made the leader of the APC in the south-southern state.

He disclosed this during a closed-door meeting with six APC governors and some members of the National Assembly who visited him at the Government House in Calabar.

Present at the meeting was, Timipre Sylva, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, and members of the State Executive Council,
Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State defected from PDP to APC on November 17, 2020, because the South-East region had suffered injustice in the opposition party, a claim which was swiftly denied by the PDP.