Inyali Peter|5 February 2017
It's almost impossible or very difficult to imagine that a democratic government set up by the people to protect and defend their interest will turn out to become an avenue for the officials to defraud the unsuspecting populace. As difficult as it could be, this, unfortunately has become the situation in Cross River. Every program from federal government, Donor agencies and partners has been shrouded in fraud under the watch of Governor Ben Ayade.
Like I stated recently in one of my articles, it could be that the governor is not directly involved in the frauds against the unsuspecting public judging by his insistence that his government is for the poor. But when you recall that the governor illegally and criminally transferred the bailout funds from federal government into his younger brother's account, you will have little or no course to defend his innocence about all the fraudulent activities going on in his administration.
In the past four weeks, I've received countless of complains from Cross Riverians who are supposedly beneficiaries of the federal government N-Power scheme. While some who were shortlisted by the federal government were not invited for verification but instead have their names replaced, names of some who were verified and cleared missed on transit.
Others who have been fortunate to receive the stipend are now charged some money code named "service charge" before they are deployed to their places of primary assignments. If government officials who earn reasonable salary still want to milk people who earn just N30,000 dry, then something monumentally is wrong with the Ayade's administration.
Besides that, the Anchor Borrowers Program was or is shrouded in fraud. Until we stepped in, farmers were compelled to sign for more and given even less than half of what they signed for.
Bailout funds, fraud. The money was found in the personal account of the Governor's younger brother.
Since the Governor received the Paris club money from the federal government, he has resumed his world tour program. Junketing from one country to another in the name of signing MOUS. I hope Governor Ayade understands that the day of reckoning is coming?
Although the fraud in Commercial Agriculture Development Program which I'm still investigating and expecting relevant anti-cratf agencies to call some officers for questioning soon has been as old as the program in the state, the bane became so pronounced under this administration. By the time I finish with my investigation, the managers of the program will explain to Cross Riverians how they spent $25 million as well as the role of t this government in whole thing.
The federal government school feeding program will commence soon. I hope the government will look for a reliable and trusted hands to handle the program. Food meant for pupils should not be diverted to another channel because so many of us will beam our searchlight on them.
While some may try to exonerate the governor from all the allegations of fraud, we must remember what Machiavelli said that the first step to test the true intelligence of a leader is to check the people working with him. For the governor to justify that people are only using his name and government influence to perpetrate the evil, he should call his Agric Commissioner to answer questions about the borrowers program.
He should summon managers of N-Power to explain to him the reason for the irregularities. He should be bold to punish and fire those found wanting.
Again, I'll recommend that the governor should set up a secret monitoring team to evaluate the activities of some of his aides and all government officials working with him. This will help him fetch out the bad eggs who have completely ruined the reputation of this administration (That's if he's not himself the architect of all the unabated fraud going on).
Together, we can make Cross River great again!
Inyali Peter
Is a Journalist
