Nyok|17 August 2018
Former Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General of Cross River State, Mr Eyo Ekpo Esq, who is vying for the Office of Executive Governor of the State has described the trillion Naira 2018 Budget of Kinetic Crystalisation of the incumbent Governor of Cross River, Sen. Prof. Ben Ayade, as delusional NegroidHaven can report authoritatively. Ekpo further noted that handing over the budget to a clergyman to pray over was a reprehensible drama aimed at hoodwinking the unsuspecting public.
Ekpo made this remarks yesterday via a press release made available to our correspondent where the gentleman of the silk noted that, if the present administration had taken its time to go over the then fiscal proposal it would have saved itself of the melodrama it got into during the signage of what he referred to as 'a contentious fiscal misadventure'.
The gubernatorial hopeful has queried how the state government intends to justify the pegging of this year's appropriation law at such a whooping amount considering the lean internally generated of the State, the paltry federal allocation and the ceding of 79 oil wells to sister state, Akwa Ibom.
Hear him, 'breaking down in tears over an ambitious and vague N1.3 trillion “Budget of Kinetic Crystallization” and then handing over the signed document to a member of the clergy to invoke Divine abracadabra is a reprehensible drama to hoodwink the easily swayed and weak minded.
'The value of those tears and the economy-class emotions on show for those of paler constitutions would perhaps be of more substance if the administration had taken the trouble to properly elucidate on the contents of such a contentious fiscal misadventure and how it managed to get approval. It doesn’t require genius-level intellect to know that one should not spend beyond one’s income.
'How does the administration justify the outrageous jump in budget from N301 billion in 2017 to N1.3 trillion in 2018? How does the government of Cross River State – still reeling from a critical dent in revenue after forfeiting most of its crude oil production to neighbouring Akwa Ibom State following the resolution of a lengthy border dispute – plan to finance this bizarre fiscal instrument with its meager internally generated revenue (IGR) (N13.56 billion in 2015, N13.54 billion in 2016, N14.77 billion in 2017) and a Federal allocation of about N68 billion in 2017?
'And by which clergy shall the state be absolved of its staggering external debt of $115 million (Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS) estimate, fourth highest among states in Nigeria)?'
Continuing and taking a swipe at the 8th Cross River State House of Assembly (CRSHA), Ekpo said that the Assembly colluded with the Executive arm of the State Government to deceive the State, 'We now have a situation where the legislature, which is supposed to act as a balance against executive rascality, is now enabling a reckless governor to play on the intelligence of Cross Riverians.
Enough is enough. The budget of any individual, organization, national or sub-national entity is a serious document that shows what the priorities of that entity are. Based on that, the 2018 budget of Cross River is a joke that is no longer funny. This used to be a state noted for its responsible government, but has now become the plaything of the governor and his brother, and the icing on the cake is this ridiculous budget.'
He suggested that kicking the governor out is the veritable way of rewarding the governor: 'The only way to reward Ben Ayade is to send him into political retirement in March 2019. It is urgent for Cross Riverians to stand up and prevent the state from going further into ruin. Another four years of this kinetic delusion will be too much for this state to bear.'
It will be recalled that Governor Ayade of Cross River State signed into law a hefty N1.3 trillion, the colossal fiscal outlay for the year 2018 more than triples the budget provisions for the previous year which stood at much smaller N301 billion besting Lagos State which posted a slightly smaller budget for 2018 with N1.046 trillion; up from the previous year’s N821 billion, to the game. Ayade christened it the Budget of Kinetic Crystalisation.
Remarking on the passage of the budget, Governor Ben Ayade remarked 'This is the first trillion naira budget by a State Government in the annals of Nigerian history, and therefore it is unique and ambitious and intended to decouple the state from dependence on the Federation account.'
'The philosophy behind the budget is the spirit of ‘we can do it’ and creates a new vista, thinking and horizon that would take us out of the woods. It is high time we put an end to the civil service status mentality we have found ourselves by thinking outside the box.'
'This is epochal in the history of the state and the nation as it is the first to pass the N1 trillion mark in the nation among the states,' he also noted.
The gargantuan budget, dubbed 'Budget of Kinetic Crystallization' was described by the governor as being meant to crystallize what the state had achieved in the past two years of his administration.
He also indicated that the size of the budget was expected to create room for potential investors in the state’s (or his) signature projects, namely the superhighway and deep sea port projects.
Predictably, reactions trailing the signing of the budget have been overwhelmingly negative, with the chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Pastor Sunday Michael saying: 'We hereby advise the Cross River State Governor, Senator Ben Ayade to withdraw his unrealistic, childish and fraudulent Kinetic Crystallization Budget of N1.3 trillion.' Pastor Sunday Michael also accused the State House of Assembly of colluding with the governor in presenting the record budget without first conducting the mandatory performance review of the previous year’s budget.
Nyok
Is the Blogger-in-Chief, Editor-in-Chief & Publisher of NegroidHaven