Ifere Paul27 January 2016|6:00am
Cross River State Governor, Prof. Ben Ayade has fired back at his kinsman and former commissioner for works, Mr Vena Ikem, calling him unprintable names for criticising his government.
Ayade spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Christian Ita. He spoke in an exclusive chat with TNN in Calabar while reacting to a recent interview where Vena branded the administration of Governor Ben Ayade as a disaster, further described him as someone who is 'high on something cheap'.
He said: “If he is too old he should look for something tangible to do to feed his family rather than blackmail people all over the place. This voyage of lies against the governor is too cheap and uncalled for. He said the governor has not achieved anything but is he aware that in just seven months the governor has constructed three roads. “He is high on something cheap. I am shocked that a guy who left law school in the 80s can be so ignorant; he was the same set with Imoke and I can understand his frustration, people like Imoke had been a minister, a senator and a governor and he is here scratching for a living, pasting lies on Facebook about people. The very platform he is using to blackmail people was founded by a man who dropped out of school.
“Ayade never for once said he has a first class but Ayade is more brilliant than he is. Vena Ikem cannot hold a candle to Ben Ayade in every ramification. He is muddling up issues by trying to claim that the governor is coming after him because he moved to APC, what is his electoral value?”
“It is a known fact in the country that Cross River is the only state that has paid January salary. Paying salaries at a time when states with ten times the revenue Cross River gets from the federal allocation are owing months and months of salary, isn't that an achievement?
In the same interview, to show you how inconsistent he is, he claimed that the governor achieved nothing yet towards the end he admitted that the governor gave him contract. What was the contract for?
I think basically his anger can be deduced from the interview, he is angry with the governor for reviewing downward the contract he awarded to him but I believe that for a man who is close to 60, his approach to issues is very sad, to say the least.
“He went as far as talking about the governor having a second class lower in his first degree, he said how can the governor claim to be a genius when he made a 2/2 and I laughed. Did this guy ever go to school, does Vena read at all? If he is someone who reads, he should know that examination is never a true reflection of one's intelligence. I challenge him to mention one genius in the world who made a first class.
“Bill gates today that is being celebrated for his inventions was a school drop-out, Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, did he make first class, coming back home, Gani Fawhenmi of blessed memory was a third class product, yet he went on to become the most brilliant and respected legal luminary in this country”.
On the insinuation that the governor is running an administration made up of his family members and relatives, he said: “I am from Odukpani. The Chief of protocol is from Calabar South, the chief security adviser, Jude Ngaji is from Yala, the chief economic adviser is from Bekwarra, the secretary to the state government, Tina Agbor is from Boki. So Vena is just talking balderdash. He is given to erratic behaviour. So I am not surprised that he doesn't even know where people come from. He is talking rubbish; he should look for something else and talk about.”
Ita, however, dissociated the governor from the warrant of arrest on Vena issued by a Calabar magistrate court, adding that the governor had no hand in it.
“How can the governor be behind the warrant of arrest, is he the judge? If the governor wants to arrest him he would forget all these processes and send the police after him, but this is a man who believes in the rule of law. I think the issue is that the guy that he stabbed is related to the governor but does that prevent the young man from seeking redress in a proper court of law? The governor has no hand in it. Let him go and defend himself and stop muddling up issues.
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Cross River State Government finally admit that Governor Ayade did not make a first class in his first degree. This also implies that Governor Ayade did not make a first class in his master's degree either. It also goes to say that he did not graduate as the best student in his PhD.
I have written three letters to governor Ayade to publish the award he received from Japan as the best researcher and the invention of water remediation solar powered machines.
Two of my three letters were during the time he was declared winner of the primaries of the PDP. The other was during the campaign. Until now, I have not received his replies.
It is not that governor Ayade is not brilliant. But that from his birthday(s) to school certifications, Ayade is shrouded in serious secrets and scandals. Even his projects apart from the Garment Factory are all scandalous and eminently unrealistic.
One thing clearer is that, without critics in CRS, Governor Ayade would have been a massive failure just like his certificates have confirmed.
Ifere Paul
Is an Environmental Activist & Public Policy Analyst
