By Ogar Monday; House of Assembly Correspondent
The Cross River State House of Assembly in plenary, Wednesday, gave the Cross River State Governor, Senator Ben Ayade the approval for the appointment of five more Special Advisers.
The approval was given following a letter from the Governor through the Secretary to the State Government, Barrister Tina Agbor, to the Assembly.
The letter which was titled “NOMINATION FOR APPOINTEMENT AS SPECIAL ADVISERS”, addressed to the Speaker, Cross River State House of Assembly with reference number SSG/S/300/VOLXVII/1058 and dated 17th April, 2017 reads:
“In the exercise of the powers conferred on His Excellency, Senator Professor Ben Ayade, Governor of Cross River State by section 192(1) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I am pleased to inform you that His Excellency intend (sic) to appoint five (5) additional Special Advisers to assist him in the performance of his functions.”
Before the approval was given, some of the members expressed dissatisfaction with the format and form of the letter.
Hon. Fred Osim (Ikom 1, PDP) said the letter had no clear direction as regards what it wants the Assembly to do.
Hon. Osim argued that the title of the letter is different from the content, saying the Assembly does not nominate Special Advisers, as the title seeks, but rather grant approval for their appointment, as the body of the letter seeks.
Also speaking, Hon. Moses Ucheche (Obanlikwu, PDP) said that it has become regular for the SSG to send letters fraught with errors to the Assembly, and that there was the need to put an end to that and make those responsible to sit-up.
But while speaking, the Speaker, Hon. John Gaul Lebo (Abi, PDP) said his only grouse with the letter is that the cited part of the constitution deals with Commissioners and not Special Advisers but cautioned that focus should be on the intention of the letter rather than the form.
He called for a voice vote with majority of the members voting to grant the approval.
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