By Magnus Effiong
The Special Adviser to Cross River state governor on cocoa development and control, Ntufam Dr. Oscar Ofuka, has said the State got more than N60 million this year just from allocating cocoa plantations to farmers.
In a chat with reporters in Calabar, Sunday, Ntufam Ofuka said “Under the Smartgov policy we introduced, once a contractor pays his money for a cocoa hectare, 49.5 percent of the cash goes straight into the bank account of cocoa landlord communities.
“40.5 percent moves to the account of the Cross River State internal internal Revenue Service (IRS) while 10 percent of the cash enters account of Department of Cross River State Cocoa Development and Control.
“From this arrangement, N60m has been generated for government with about N35m royalties paid to the landlord account as of May 24, 2023, and today all the accusations that I misappropriated funds meant for payment of royalties to landlord communities have stopped.The propaganda is now known to be false.”
He said the State government also succeeded in establishing the Akin/Osomba Cocoa Estate in Akamkpa Local Government Area with N10millon worth of cocoa seedlings.
He further disclosed that the department of cocoa development and control also acquired 7,000 hectares of agro-forest land at Etara and Ekuri in Etung local government area of the State to expand cocoa programme under the CBN cocoa initiative.
Other achievements, he stated, included the recovery of 32 hectares of Cross River State cocoa farm at Abonita cocoa estate in Etung which was illegally ceded to private individuals in Ajassor community.
He said: “Under the new six years lease of 2024 to 2029, a total hectares available stood at 4,637with about 1,208 hectares allocated to contractors. 3, 429 hectares are yet to be allocated.”
