Prof Ben Ayade, the governor
of Cross River
In addition, Ayade promised
to execute all his administration’s signature projects, noting that he
inherited a state with great potentials and not an empty treasury from his
predecessor, Senator Liyel Imoke.
In his inaugural speech on
the 29th of May 2015, when he took over as governor, Ayade promised
to undertake the construction of a State sea port, a super highway from Calabar
to Obudu among other projects.
In an interaction with
newsmen on Tuesday in Calabar, Ayade reiterated his determination to effect the
payment of local government workers’ salaries in the State within the week.
It would be recalled
that Local government employees alongside primary school teachers in the State
have not been paid for the past 3months.
Reacting to a question, the
governor cautioned that no one should measure the wealth of a nation by the
naira and kobo in its account, but rather by its economic potentials.
“I inherited a State with
great potentials; I did not inherit an empty treasury. Never measure the wealth
of a nation by the naira and kobo in its account”, he stressed.
Following agitations by local
government workers in the State over delay in the payment of their salaries;
the governor apologized that he was not aware assuring the salaries will be
paid within the week.
According to
him, “All the times I gave standing orders for salaries to be paid, I thought
all the salaries were being paid.
There is no
way on earth that you would pay the state civil servants and leave the local
service, first month, second month going; that’s unfair. I never knew.
Today, as I
speak, I have concluded all arrangements for their salaries to be paid this
week. To be able to pay, we also did some documentation.
There were so
many issues that called for concern, so we needed to show some bid of
ecclesiastical caution”.
Meanwhile, the governor has
expressed his administration’s readiness to establish a food bank across the
state in order to create jobs and add value to farmers’ products.
“When I served as a senator,
I created the Ayade food bank in my senatorial district. The food bank was an
institution that served as an off taker, to buy directly from farmers and
distribute to those who no longer can fish.
The programme was designed to
create jobs and to create value for products of farmers. That’s a programme we
intend to bring and cascade in the state level.
We are going to have State
food banks in all the local government areas; it’s going to come by way of an
executive policy or a motion approved by the state house of assembly”.
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