Efio-Ita Nyok|3 June 2016|6:16am
What you about to read is the full text of the address made by the acting Chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC) Cross River State Chapter, John Ochala, made during the 2016 Democracy Day. Summarily, Ochala describes Ayade as a 'showman Governor' who thinks he is still campaigning for votes as he continues to make promises even into one year in office.
One Year Gone: Reflections on Cross River and Nigeria.
It has been one year since the swearing in of President Muhammadu Buhari and Governor Benedict Ayade, it is pertinent to on this occasion make a brief review of their administrations, given the fact that we are Cross Riverians and Nigerians who are one way or the other affected in diverse ways by their policies.
In Cross River State, the government of Senator Benedict Ayade was welcomed in the hopes that he has something tangible to offer, but all such hopes have since been dashed. We in APC, Cross River State wished Ayade to perform well; so we watched silently as he marked his first hundred days in office with no articulate document or project by which one can measure his preparedness for governance or lack of it. After the first six months, tangible signs that Governor Ayade was not prepared for Administration were beginning to be very obvious. Now it is one year down the road and I can affirm with all certainty that with Sen. Ayade, our state is in very wrong hands.
His lack of vision and clear cut mission is evident to the discerning. It is now clear that Mr. Governor thinks that the process or act of governance is akin to a circus show and no doubt he sees himself as a showman. This is the only logical explanation that can be attributed to his words and deeds since he assumed office.
One of his telltale signs and blunder which came as a surprise to many was his appointment of 28 commissioners and a crowd of Special Assistants at a time all states were exploring cost saving measures due to poor state of the economy. Failing to realize that the era of campaigns are well over, our governor is still in campaign mode, promising one white elephant project today, initiating another unrealistic project tomorrow and so on, with little or no thought spared for the lean purse strings of the state.
Take the proposed Calabar-Obudu super highway project for instance, despite advises and protest by people of the state, he proceeded to conduct a much hyped ground breaking after an opaque and flawed bidding process, even when he knew that he was not prepared for the project. A whopping half a billion naira of tax payers money have been spent on clearing the proposed pathway; (the Governor and his cronies are of course the beneficiaries of the clearing contract). The project cost is estimated at 700 billion naira, but we do not have a clear idea of how he intends to finance it. Logically one can only conclude that the governor is only interested in vain glorious projects for the purpose of popularity, otherwise as he has been severally advised, he would have rehabilitated the existing federal highway then ask for refund of the amount spent from the federal government as some governors in other states have done. This would have been a far more reasonable option, considering the unhealthy finances of our state.
The Bakassi Deep Seaport is another controversial project. I will not bore you with details of this but every Cross Riverian is wondering why he cannot dredge and turn around the existing Calabar Seaport to make it economically productive again.
On the hyped Monorail, which he inherited, the question is which passengers will this expensive toy be carrying and from where to where? That monorail is merely an expensive decorative toy with absolutely no economic or social value. A realistic monorail project would have been constructed in the Calabar metropolis to ease transport hassles.
In his tradition of showmanship, the Governor just after his swearing in, declared that a garment factory will be ready in 100 days, to this day, it is not yet ready and the ownership of the factory is mired in controversy.
Now as if his white elephant projects are not detrimental enough, Mr. Governor has but left governance of the state to his family members, especially his brother, the notorious Frank Ayade. Since he assumed office it has been Frank performing government functions on several occasions, a case in mind is the commissioning of a General Hospital in Obudu. We are wondering if the state has become a family business and other well minded Cross Riverians are wondering too.
In recent times, Cross River which was recognized as one of the most peaceful states in Nigeria has become a haven for kidnappers and armed robbers, thus depriving the state of its tourism potentials. Thanks to the sloppiness of the Ayade led government. What he does with a six billion naira annual security vote, only God knows.
TREASONABLE ACTS
Section 214(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria provides that "there shall be a Police Force for Nigeria which shall be called the Nigeria Police Force, and subject to the provisions of this Section, no other Police Force shall be established for the federation or any part thereof. The creation of the 'Green Police' by Governor Ayade is therefore not only unconstitutional, it is also treasonable. Moreover, under Cross River State Forestry law, there is a provision for Forest Guards. Which duties will the green police perform that will be different from those performed by Forest Guards created by law and which law establishes the green police?
Secondly, the appointment of Mr. Emmanuel Ibeshi as envoy to the African Development Bank in Abidjan is another Treasonable Act. External Affairs is on the Exclusive Legislative list in the second schedule to the 1999 constitution. By the appointment, the Governor is appropriating the powers of the Federal Government.
THE ENVIRONMENT
In spite of his certification as an environmentalist, Governor Ayade has made nonsense of the once Clean and Green state he met. Refuse dumps now litter everywhere especially in the capital. The situation has become so embarrassing that the boast in town today is "my refuse is bigger than yours".
SALARIES
It is indeed pathetic that Governor Ayade celebrates the payment of salaries to civil servants. Payment of wages is a duty owed by an employer to his employee and not a favour or an achievement as he would have us believe. On May 1, 2016 he took the ridiculous step of paying May salaries, in other words, paying for work not done. Yet street cleaners, staff of the state university (CRUTECH) and Pensioners are being owed several months salary. On May 2, Street Cleaners took to the streets to protest the non payment of their meager salaries.
BUDGET
Talking about the budget of the state, who has seen a copy of the 2016 budget? The budget is a law and should be gazetted, there is no such gazette,.
OUR POSITION
As Acting Chairman of APC, it is my firm belief that once our party wins the state in 2019, it will be a different ball-game entirely because having well outlined our blueprint for immediate implementation; we shall come fully prepared to govern. There is just no way we would fail Cross Riverians the way Mr. Governor and his party, the PDP have done.
MUHAMMADU BUHARI
Taking a cursory look at the performance of the APC led Federal Government so far, it is evident that the government has scored important points within its first year in office.
The successful ending of Boko Haram insurgency in the North East and the Rescue of the country from economic meltdown through the bailout package to insolvent states are two of such achievements worth commending. In the same vein, the Federal Government has saved over 185 billion naira since the implementation of Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System which uncovered sixty-five thousand federal ghost workers.
Also, the Warri and Kaduna refineries are presently working at 60% capacity as against 30% that was inherited by the government. Going by this, in the foreseeable future, the hassles involved in buying petroleum products will be a thing of the past as these products would be readily available at very reduced cost.
With the number of people oriented projects included in the recently passed 2016 budget; one can safely infer that the ship of the Nigerian state is in very capable hands. Despite the severe cash crunch bedeviling the country due to the drastic fall in oil prices in the international markets, the Federal Government has fashioned out ways to keep the country afloat and is still exploring other means of making life worthwhile for every Nigerian.
Fellow Cross Riverians, I use the opportunity presented by this occasion to call on you, regardless of your present party affiliation, to join hands with the APC to rescue Cross River from the hands of the PDP government of Governor Ayade. Let us all support the APC led Federal Government in its all-out bid to make the dividends of Democracy a reality and to as well support the positive transformation of Nigeria into a real industrial and economic giant.
This is our chance, we should cease it!
On behalf of the Cross River State Chapter of the All Progressive Congress, I wish you a very peaceful Democracy Day Celebration.
Long live APC!
Long live Cross River State!
Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
John Ochala
Ag. State Chairman,
All Progressive Congress, Cross River State.
