Sports Council: Asu Okang, Orok Duke Trade Tackles At Assembly Hearing

By Ogar Monday: House of Assembly Correspondent

(Left) Orok Duke and (Right) Asu Okang at the public hearing

The power tussle between the Cross River State Commissioner for Sports, Asu Okang and the Chairman Cross River State Sports Commission Orok Duke over who superintends over sports in Cross River state took a legislative dimension Monday, at the House of Assembly when the duo were invited to discuss the State’s sports council law.

Invited by the House Committee on Youths, Sports and Labor matters over the amendment of the Cross River State Sports Council Law, Asu who spoke first during the public hearing reeled out points to substantiate his argument that the sports council will stagnate the growth of sports in the state.

He posited that the Commission had been scraped at the national level and called on the state to follow suit or as a compromise, be made to report to the Commissioner. He also accused Orok Duke of frustrating his efforts to secure sponsorship for the state’s football team.

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However, Orok argued that all his actions have been in tandem with the law and alleged he met a rotten system which “those who have benefited from the morass will have difficulty letting go”.

He posited that he was only answerable to the Governor as it is the case everywhere else in the world. A system which he says aims at avoiding “bureaucratic red-tapism”.

However, the Chairman, Committee on Youths, Sports and Labor Matters, Hon. Ogbor Ogbor who cautioned Orok and Asu on their attitude, said the public hearing was not a ground for them to bring to the fore, their “cold war” and urged them to join heads together and solve the myriads of problems facing the sports sector in the state.

The Chairman also attributed the problem of security to the state’s inability to harness its sports potential, arguing that sports has the capacity to create jobs and curb youth restiveness.

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