By Ike Uchechukwu

CALABAR—Cross River State House of Assembly has summoned the Secretary to the State Government, SSG, Tina Agbor, and others to clear the air on their alleged involvement in the doctoring of the 2018 budget with a view of explaining their part in the illegality.

Vanguard  gathered that others invited along with the SSG include the Special Adviser, Department of Public Transportation, DOPT, Mr Emmanuel Mbora, Special Adviser, Budget Monitoring and Evaluation, Mr. Abang Moses Onoh, Chairman, Commercial Transport Regulatory Agency, CTRA, Mr. Mfon Bassey, and Chairman, Internal Revenue Service, Ogar Akpanke.

In a statement  by Director, Legislative Matters/Head of Chamber, Adie Akabisong, on behalf of the Clerk of the House, the Legislative Body said it had also set up a Special Committee to investigate the allegation which it described as ‘grievous.’

It will  be recalled that the Chairman, CTRA, Mr. Bassey, had on August 15 petitioned the Commissioner of Police requesting for an investigation and prosecution of the Special Adviser, DOPT, and the Special Adviser, Budget, for alleged conspiracy and forgery of budget estimates contained in Cross River State Appropriation Law, 2018 with the backing of the SSG,  Agbor. He also petitioned the House of Assembly asking for investigations into the saga.

Bassey said a communiqué aired on radio and television services of the Cross River Broadcasting Cooperation, CRBC, as public announcement last weekend had given credence to the fact of budget ‘tampering’ and that the communiqué mentioned six names, including his name, as party to the amendment.