Obong of Calabar, Edidem Ekpo Otu has asked Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River state to step aside.

Daily Trust reported that the monarch said this when Liyel Imoke, a former governor of the state paid homage to him.

The Obong blamed Ayade for the vandalism, looting and destruction of public and private property in the state last week. He maintained that the Governor needs to step aside to enable an interim administration come up so that he can learn governance.

He said;

“He (Ayade) has not been holding security meeting regularly. This thing would not have happened if he had called the security people together after hearing what happened in Lagos and other places; If he had called them together and tell them, look my friends; nothing should happen in my state.
“The Governor should be able to open his door for people to come in, and should work with everybody. We have to face it; we don’t need to play around with it; we cannot continue this way. You tell him that there is a need for total reconciliation; a total rehabilitation of whatever he has been doing.
“Everybody matters in this state. He should be able to talk to people. He wouldn’t call you and even when you call him, he doesn’t answer the call. Nobody talks to him.”
The Monarch also accused Governor Ayade of not picking his calls after several attempts. He added;
“The Governor should be able to open his door for people to come in, and should work with everybody.
“We have to face it; we don’t need to play around with it; we cannot continue this way.
“You tell him that there is a need for total reconciliation; a total rehabilitation of whatever he has been doing.
“Everybody matters in this state.
“He should be able to talk to people.
“He wouldn’t call you and even when you call him, he doesn’t answer the call. Nobody talks to him.”

Speaking earlier, Imoke told the Obong that in the wake of the incident, he thought it wise to seek the help and cooperation of the traditional institution in finding a way out of the problem. He also disclosed that he was directly affected by the crisis which trailed the #EndSARS protests between October 23 and October 24, as his wife’s shop was vandalized by hoodlums.

He said;

“We do not understand the extent of the carnage.
“We are all victims of this incident.
“If you were not hit directly, you were hit indirectly.
“For me, I was hit directly, so to very many public officials. They were also hit directly.”

Reacting to the Obong’s comment, the Governor’s media aide Christian Ita averred that it is very doubtful that his principal would ignore a call from the Obong of Calabar, stressing that the governor holds him in high esteem as the traditional father of the state.

Ita said;

“He couldn’t have ignored the monarch’s phone calls.
“It is unfair for him to call for the governor, who has done all in his power very sincerely to enhance the fortunes of he state, to step aside.”