By Inyali Peter, Calabar
The gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Cross River State in the last general election, Mr. Odey Ochicha has challenged the state governor Senator Ben Ayade to face governance and stop the promises which he described as “noise”.
Ochicha who made the call recently during a private visit to his home town in Bekwarra Local Government Area of the state lamented that ten months after Ayade assumed office, there’s nothing to account for in terms of visible projects.
He quarrelled that while other state governors are working quietly, the governor is busy squandering the state resources by jumping from one country to another doing absolutely nothing.
While calling on Cross Riverians to tackle the silent culture where nobody hold the government responsible, he urged them to exercise patience with President Muhammadu Buhari administration noting that Nigerians have started experiencing a sigh of relief.
According to him, “Governor Ben Ayade must understand the reality that politics is not part of executive functions. He must as a matter of urgency face governance with all amount of seriousness and forget this noise he is making about.
“In Kaduna, Lagos, Ogun and other States who have serious minded governors, they are busy working, supporting the Federal government to better the lots of their people unlike here where Ayade is still feeling like he’s on a campaign rally.
“Within the ten months of his administration, what we have heard and seen is promises upon promises without any clear plan on how to achieve them. Governance is not a joke therefore Ayade must not reduce the exalted office of the governor to a child’s play”.
Speaking about the hundreds of appointments made by the state governor, Ochicha said that it was unnecessary for the governor to deceive Cross Riverians that he was creating jobs when he knows the state currently lack the resources to sustain them.
“This his bizarre appointments is the height of irresponsibility by any government considering the present economic situation of the state and the country.
“Since he assumed office, the state internally generated revenue has reduced drastically by over 20%. Instead of him to focus on addressing that, he is busy playing politics with unnecessary duplication of appointments. Now tell me, what is the difference between Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, New City and Social Housing, Environment and Climate Change? This is absolutely not the time for politics but governance!” he said.
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