Cross River State governor, Ben Ayade, wants the Catholic Archdiocese of Calabar to tow the path of the Catholic church in Enugu State by seeking out ways and calling parties contending his re-election in court, to a roundtable so that an amicable settlement will be reached and cases withdrawn.
“The main contending parties in the tribunal are Catholics and I believe that the leadership of the Catholic Church in Cross River State has a duty to call us to a round table to settle the case”, he said.
Ayade who made this submission at the St. Charles Lwanga Catholic Church, Essien Town, Calabar, during the pre-inaugural thanksgiving service held in his honour, further maintained that, “for me as a Catholic, I have extended my hand of fellowship and will never bear any grudges against anyone for what ever reason arising from the election or any other matter.”
He also came clear that, “…never in the history of Cross River State has a governor won every single polling unit in an election. For the first time we had a fantastic result. It was not by our power but by the power of God that we recorded such a landslide victory and I must once again thank the good people of Cross River State for the show of love and confidence in my capacity to transform the state.”
For his large retinue of aides, he informed the large gathering that, “I committed myself by expanding government to ensure that at least a member of each family was represented in my government to earn salary. I kept faith in spite of daunting challenges. It was not by my might nor my power but God saw me through, which is why we have come to return all glory to God almighty. We are also here to thank the Almighty in anticipation that He will see me through the next four years.”
While pledging his unwavering commitment to the welfare of the people, he assured that his “commitment to the people of Cross River will be stronger as we begin the second journey of transforming the state from a third-class world to the first class through aggressive industrialization drive.”
Rev. Father Bob Etta, the homilist, who drew his theme from the Acts of the Apostles: 15 and Revelation: 21, emphasized the need for political actors to follow the path of peace.
Present at the church service were the state Deputy Governor, Ivara Esu, Chief Judge, Maurice Edem, Speaker of the CRD House of Assembly, John Gaul Lebo, National Asembly Members and the enlarged members of the State Executive Council.
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