By Jonathan Ugbal
The registered trustees of DACRIS development and growth initiative, a nongovernmental organization, and a Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Honorable Cletus Obun have approached the High Court of Cross River State via an Originating Summons to stop the planned concessioning and sale of Transcorp Hotel in Calabar and four other industries by the Governor Benedict Ayade-led administration in Cross River State.
The two claimants who in Suit number HC/77/2023 filed on April 18, 2023, described themselves as, “interested and concerned Cross Riverians, who have the interest of the State at heart,” said the planned sale/concessioning was for “no justifiable reason,” Court documents sighted by CrossRiverWatch show.
Governor Benedict Ayade, the Government of Cross River State, the State’s Ministry of Industry, the State’s Public Private Partnership Council, and the Bureau of Public Private Partnership are listed as first to fifth defendants in the suit respectively.
It will be recalled that the State had on March 28, 2023, published on Page 14 of the Nation newspaper, its intentions to sell the Cross River Bagging Factory, Calabar; the Groundnut Oil Mills, Bekwarra; the Maize Flour factory, Obanliku; the Fresh Fruits Factory, Obanliku; and Transcorp Hotel, Calabar.
And, the claimants are seeking the Courts to determine, “whether the Government of Cross River State can validly carry out concession and/or sale of the State-owned properties by mere approval of the State Executive Council and without first, resorting to the House of Assembly for approval?”
Also, they are asking the Court to determine whether “considering the provisions of section 14 (2)(c) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), the Claimants have the right to bring the instant suit, questioning the acts of the State Government.”
Four reliefs are sought. They are;
A declaration that the purported concession and/or sale of the State-owned properties by the defendants, particularly the first defendant, who has barely forty-seven (47) days (as at the time of filing) to vacate his seat as Governor, is not in the overriding interest of the citizens of Cross River State.
A declaration that the defendants cannot validly carry out concession and/or sale of the State-owned properties by mere approval of the State Executive Council and without first resorting to the State House of Assembly for approval as required by section 128(l)(a) and (b), (2)(a) & (b) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).
An order restraining the defendants from carrying out any sale and/or concession of any or all the State-owned properties, and;
An order nullifying any such sale and/or concession of the State-owned properties being carried out by the Defendants without authorization from the Cross River State House House of Assembly as required under section 128(l)(a) & (b), (2)(a) (b) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).
In an 11-paragraph affidavit undertaken by John Offiong, Chairman of DACRIS in support of the Originating Summons, the first claimant said that the defendants claim to have obtained the approval of the State Executive Council to carry out the purported concession, has, “an ulterior motive to deprive the State of the only Hotel it has, which is the only target of the first defendant as the other properties listed as Nos. 1 to 4 above, are not functioning. They are a decoy, mere phony names and a smokescreen to give flesh to the adverts in Exhibit MEU-1 and make it look like they followed the procurement process as required by law.”
Offiong further declared that: “I know for a fact that there is no industry in Obanliku. The Bekwarra Oil Mills is not functioning. The so-called Bagging Factory is not working.”
The second claimant in a 13-paragraph affidavit in support of the Originating Summons and deposed to by himself, declared that; “I am aware that the second defendant had earlier sold the Metropolitan Hotel (now known as “Transcorp Hotel”) in 2005 for a whooping sum of Two Hundred Million Naira (N200,000,000.00) only to Kingsville Group.
“The first defendant had lured his Executive Council three (3) months ago, to approve the buying of Transcorp Hotel by the second defendant for an outrageous sum of Two Billion, Seven hundred million Naira (NGN2,700,000,000.00) of taxpayers’ money and since then, the hotel has been running at a loss by the successive owners till date. This payment was made during the intense cash crunch period and still yet to be officially handed over to the second defendant only for it to be listed again for sale.
“I know as a fact that the intention of the defendants to carry out the purported concession is brought in bad faith and if not restrained, they will conclude their ill intention to the detriment of the incoming Governor in particular and the State in general.”
A date has not been fixed for the suit.