by crossriverwatch admin
This is not a good time for members of the Cross River State Executive Council as the crisis rocking the state exco following the suspension slammed on some of the truant members of the state executive council is degenerating to a scandalous level as majority of the exco have continued to shun activities marking the 2013 Christmas Festival.
It would be recalled that Imoke’s sledge hammer fell on 21 members of the exco for their continued disregard to the functions and responsibilities of their offices particularly during the 2013 World AIDS Day that saw the governor himself distributing pamphlets to citizens as part of the state advocacy method.
The 21 members of the State exco were immediately suspended after the governor ordered the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Mike Aniah to take a roll call of those present at the event.
Since then, State functions have continued to witness huge attendance of some suspended and other members of the existing exco especially the daily night shows during the Calabar festival; in the hope that the governor will have a change of mind.
Perhaps their expectation that the governor will give them an olive branch by lifting the suspension due to their prompt attendance of events afterwards did not yield result and some of the suspended exco according to a competent CrossRiverWatch source, urged their family, friends and supporters to shun the ‘Re-branded governor Mask Fete’ held at emporium B of the Tinapa Leisure Resort which is an exclusive program to raise funds for the pet project of the governor’s wife on campaign against pneumonia.
The venue of the ‘Breath of Life’ program at Tinapa Resort was literally empty as less than 400 people with no member of the suspended exco nor their family attending the 2,000 sitting capacity program which was carefully designed and prepared to generate funds for the state first lady’s campaign against pneumonia.
The event which was to commence at 7pm, according to the organizers who spoke with CrossRiverWatch, could not start till about 11:00pm when the governor and his wife arrived the venue.
Findings by CrossRiverWatch also revealed that aside the influence the suspended exco have on the private sector in the state, top public officers in Ministries, Departments and Agencies were also conspicuously absent at the event.
Some of the MDAs top officers who preferred anonymity told CrossRiverWatch that their non- attendance was as a result of lack of invitation by the organizers.
Notwithstanding the level of the turnout, the event witnessed the donation of N5million and 10,000 Dollars by the duo of Minister of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation and Senator Florence Ita-Giwa respectively to support Mrs. Imoke’s Campaign Against Pneumonia in Cross River.
Other sundry donations at the program compered by ace broadcaster, Eme Affiah and Africa’s headline Comedian, Basket Mouth was donated at the event where Governor Liyel Imoke called on the attendees to donate themselves by joining the advocay team in their localities to campaign against Pneumonia.
Imoke said public campaign, sensitization and advocacy will make Cross River better and wipe the deadly and expensive-to-cure pneumonia out of the State and brighten the chances of the State towards meeting the 2015 MDG target in the health sector.
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