Three members of the Cross River State House of Assembly, Itam Abang, (Boki I), Fred Osim, (Ikom I) and Gabriel Okpechi, Obubra I State Constituency, may have forfeited their official vehicles after the vehicles appear to have been surreptitiously withdrawn by the Office of the Chief of Staff to the state governor.
Informed sources inside the Cross River State House of Assembly, CRSHA, told www.calitown.com that communication emanating from the Chief of Staff’s office to the effect that an audit of the Ford Ranger trucks, purchased and distributed to all assembly men and women in the state was to be carried out and further requesting that the vehicles be submitted for the said audit, webbed the three lawmakers into something that may become ugly soon.
We further gathered that while the three vehicles were turned in for the said ‘audit’, getting the vehicles back has become an uphill task for the two assembly men and woman. Their problem is further compounded with the fact that the trio are among the six legislators who refused to defect to the APC with state governor, Ben Ayade.
“Some of them like Nelson Ofem, (Yakurr I), Efa Esua, (Calabar Municipality) and the late Elizabeth Ironbar, (Akpabuyo), took their trucks out of circulation, instead of submit the vehicles, when it was whispered to them that their vehicles were to be withdrawn as an intimidation strategy to force them to defect to the APC”, a source who doesn’t want his name in print told us.
Phone calls to +234 813 788 1049, the Chief of Staff’s number, for reactions before going to press this morning at 7:17am, were not taken. “You people can call him from now till next year and he will not respond. You want him to respond and tell you that the story is not true? Even his conscience will not let him do that”, another concluded.