Cross River Governor Ayade Appoints APC Chieftain Head of Deforestation Task Force

In what appears to an olive branch to the opposition, Cross River State Governor, Ben Ayade has appointed a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, Odey Oyama as the Interim Chairman of the state-deforestation task-force.

Ayade is of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)

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Oyama’s appointment is with immediate effect, according to a statement by the Senior Special Adviser to the governor on Media and Publicity, Christian Ita.

The statement said the approval of the interim task-force was to enforce the anti-deforestation policy of the government.

“The new interim task-force has Odey Oyama as chairman with the 18 Heads of Local Government Administration (HOLGA) as members.

The governor warned that any HOLGA that allows illegally logged woods to pass through his or her local government area faces termination from the local government service.

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“It should be noted that any HOLGA that allows illegally logged woods to pass through his or her local government area, faces termination from the local government service,” the statement said.

The former interim anti-deforestation task-force team was headed by Florence Inyang as Chairman with other members. It served for over four months.

Recall that in January, 2019, Oyama who was the Chief Executive Officer, Rain Forest Research and Development Centre (RRDC) was quoted by the state government in a press statement signed by Ita, of throwing his weight behind the re-election of Ayade and at the same time, “the renowned environmentalist and social critic also reappraised his earlier contrary stance on the construction of the superhighway and the deep seaport, insisting now that they are necessary for the economy of the state.”

Ita said Oyama, who made his position known after an on-the-spot visit to the Ayade Industrial Park maintained that his (Oyama) earlier position against the projects, especially the superhighway, was from a misinformed narrative, saying, “the superhighway and deep seaport are all interwoven because if you remove them, these things may not work fine.

Oyama had in 2018 signified his interest to contest for the House of Representatives seat for Ikom/Boki Federal Constituency of Cross River state in the February 2019 general election under the platform of the APC.

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