Ayade Seeks Assembly Approval To Withdraw NGN2Billion From State Reserve Fund

By Ogar Monday; House of Assembly Correspondent

The Cross River State Governor, Senator Ben Ayade has written to the Cross River State House of Assembly, seeking the House permission to withdraw 2 billion naira from the Cross River State Reserve Fund.

The letter with reference number SSG/S/300/VOLXVII/1067, signed by Barrister Tina Banku Agbor, the Secretary to State Government SSG, and addressed to the Speaker of the Cross River State House of Assembly reads in part;

“In 2006, the state government setup a reserved fund with monthly contribution of 50,000,000.00 (Fifty Million) and 18,000,000.00 (eighteen million) by State and Local Government Councils respectively, amounting to 816,000,000.00 (Eight Hundred and Sixteen Million) for emergencies and future utilization.

“The state government has intention to draw down the sum of N2, 000,000,000.00 (Two Billion Naira) only from the Cross River State Reserve Fund for intervention in the education sector, specifically in the development and construction of Teachers Continuous Training Center (TCTC), Biase and upgrading of Cross River State University Of Technology (CRUTECH) to enable the school offer/award medical services degree.”

Some of the members who spoke during the debate supported the Executive’s request and urged the House expedite action on the letter.

Hon. Regina Anyongo (Yala 1, PDP) stated that she supports the government totally as the paucity of funds due to dwindling federal allocation has put our educational system in a state that it needs urgent intervention.

Also speaking, Hon. Moses Ucheche (Obanliku, PDP) held that the need to construct a training institution for the teachers can never be understated especially if the state wants to hold its head high among the comity of educationally advanced states.

On his part, Hon. Hilary Bisong (Boki 2, PDP) praised the former leaders for having foresight to save for this rainy day, he encouraged the executive to ensure that, when they get the money, they should put it to use where they have stated.

Hon. Hilary also charged the legislators to do their work in ensuring that the projects are done through oversights.