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| Hon Bobby Ekpenyong |
In responding to a post this morning made my HE Sir Ben Ayade, Governor of Cross River State regarding the position of the State in the FAAC list yet an impeccable achievement records that outclasses States with higher allocation, the Special Adviser Obudu Mountain Resort replied.
Read:
FACTS YOU MUST KNOW
I’m a careful writer and talker. I know for sure with my more than 25 years of being in the governance system in CRS, there’s no past governor of this state, military or civilian that would inherit the debt burden that Ayade inherited, received this kind of allocation from center, receive no boom from center at this recession and bad economic climate in the country and would be able to pay salaries of civil servants as at when due, make political appointments of more than 10,000 appointees the least receiving no less than 100k monthly, build more than 30 industries that has taken more than 200,000 persons off labour market. Fight insecurity, renovate schools across the state, intervene massively in health sector, invest heavily in agriculture and invented G -Money, being first of it kind in Africa. Belongs to opposition party. Ayade is the first civilian governor in the history of CRS to belong to a different political party from the central government. He enjoys no special support from the central government, he is an orphan in Nigeria political manipulations.
I remember vividly, in the year 2000 during Obassnjo presidency, there was debts forgiveness. All the states enjoyed it. There was no deductibles. There was 13% derivation, CRS was enjoying share of oil revenues and other national incentives. All these are no more during His Excellency the governor Ayade’s rein.
How does he achieve all these then? It’s purely Intellectual Capacity.
About 3 states in Nigeria, Imo, Zamfara and Ondo pays only half salary for more than one year now. More than 10 states in Nigeria don’t even pay pension to their retirees.
Governor Ayade with 2nd least Federal Allocation and with the lowest taxes collections still be the first governor to pay civil servants and political appointees salaries before the end of every month.
Crossiverians owe him prayers, owe him support and loyalty. Please, let join hands and pray for him and his family.
It would have been worse but not for AYADE.