The Cocoa Landlord Communities Committee and the Cross River State government are currently at daggers drawn over inauguration of cocoa allocations committee in the state.
Cross River State is the second highest producer of cocoa in the country.
The landlords have vowed to distant themselves from the state government for disagreeing with them over normal avenue of payment of their entitled royalties and percentages, and attempting to deny and belittle them.
Since the administration of Ben Ayade, there has been continued mistrust, misgivings and outright physical brawls over accruals, royalties as well as constitution of cocoa committees.
Determined to streamline activities and straighten royalty payments and allocations to cocoa estates, Bassey Otu administration set up a new cocoa allocation committee with terms of reference at variance with the already executed consent judgement between the cocoa landlords communities and the state government.
As a result, yet another crisis has become imminent over cocoa allocations as the state government has remained indifferent over cocoa administration.
Recall that cocoa landlord communities had dragged the government to court over alleged non-payment of rents and royalties said to span over sixteen years.
The landlord communities had secured two consent judgements from Etung and Ikom high courts ordering the state government to defray the protracted indebtedness to the landlord communities.
In compliance, the government enforced the two Consent Judgements through the governor, his deputy, attorney-general, Due Process Office, Auditor-General, Internal Revenue Service, Smartgov Office and Cocoa Development and Control Department, and Governor’s Office.
The government established modalities for raising of the funds to settle arrears, new and future rent/royalties liabilities to the landlord communities.
This included execution of a document titled ‘Agreement to secure the immediate settlement of all grievances in the consent judgment in suit no. HE/16/2013’.
Commissioner for Agriculture, Crop and Irrigation Development, Mr. Johnson Ebekpo, Jnr. inaugurated the new cocoa allocation committee.
He said “funds realized from the allocation would be paid into government dedicated bank account” as against the Smartgov account platform as ordered by the court.
The commissioner added that the cocoa allocation would be fashioned out through a “public lottery” to select nominations across board in a transparent way where chiefs/traditional rulers and revered public officers will be selected to draw the lottery on a big spin in proportion to the existing plots on public offer”.
He charged the allocation committee to “deduct at source from the proceeds arising from the cocoa plot allocation 45 percent of the entire proceeds thereof, and the rest paid to the government coffers as revenue through the TSA”.
Reacting, the cocoa landlords communities faulted the setting up of the committee.
Secretary of the Cocoa Landlord Communities Committee, Chief Asu Ndep, said it was lopsided with no representative of cocoa landlord communities included in the committee.
In an interview with journalists, he was at a loss since the state government had earlier inaugurated a new cocoa allocation committee to pilot affairs in the cocoa value chain, with a terms of reference.
The landlords faulted moves by the state government to abandon use of Smart-gov platform used by the immediate past administration to defray the 16-year debt owed them.
He said, “The new policy made by state government on cocoa allocation is aimed at scheming the landlords communities out of arrangement.
“We are already conversant with the template used by the previous administration to defray a long standing debt. We took the previous administration to high court and the court granted us ruling that forced the government to defray us our debt.
“How can the government set up cocoa allocations committee without any of our representatives and you think we will honour their committee?”
Ndep stressed that the only mode of payment of money acceptable to them is through Smart-Gov into the government covers, saying it allows them a percentage of money paid into government account to split into the account of Cocoa Landlord Communities Committee.
