By Abasi Ita, Calabar
A socio political group known as Coalition for Good Governance in Cross River has warned Governor Ben Ayade to desist from what its termed the bastardization and politicization of the state civil service by the Governor in a bid to curry favour ahead the race for the Cross Rover North Senate ticket
Speaking to newsmen in Calabar, the leader of the group, Dr Odey Unimke accused Governor Ayade of “lowering the prestige of the service in pursuance of his vaulted ambition of returning to the Senate”
According to Dr Unimke, Senator Ayade has “deliberately destroyed our state civil service.This is the first time the Civil Service Commission is being headed by a timber dealer and hotelier with no background nor experience in the civil/public service.This readily account for the rascality prevalent in the service today”
“Take a cursory look at the recent appointment of Permanent Secretaries. This echelon of the service used to command respect and admiration because merit, competence and equity constituted the basic principles guarding elevation to this pinnacle of the civil service”
“Today,,Ayade has thrown standards to the gutters and sacrificed competency on the altar of his ulterior motives .His cousin one Mr.Jerome Ayade, whom he transformed from a forest guard on Great Level ’04’ in the State Forestry Commission to Commissioner “1” in the Civil Service Commission is now a Permanent Secretary,can you beat that?
“Deputy Directors with less than five years on the saddle have been appointed Permanent Secretaries while their superiors who have been Directors in the service some for over 8 years are being overlooked simple because their spouses belongs to the opposition party”
“Out of the sixty four new Permanent Secretaries, twenty are from Obudu, where Ayade hails from,and we have been reliably informed that he is mobilizing them with millions of naira for vote buying all in a bid to secure his victory at the Senate Election in Cross River North.
This is ridiculous, to say the least”
The group leader stated “even the so called employment he authorized as one of his rush hour antics to get votes,while applicants from other local government councils are bracing up for interviews despite extortions, Ayade has already forwarded a list comprising 250 names from Obudu and they have all been issued with employment letters backdated to July 2022 by the Civil Service Commission”
He bemoaned the deplorable working conditions in virtually all government offices describing the scenarios as “utter embarrassment”
The group leader disclosed that over eighty percent of the new permanent secretaries are due for retirement having been granted approvals to embark on their retirement leave before their recent elevation.
In his words”Ayade is fully aware that he can not install a successor under any gimmick due to his woeful performance, therefore, he is just out to worsen an already complicated situation for the incoming administration”
“Or else how can a right-thinking leader who inherited a gratuity wage bill of 3.5 billion naira deliberately multiply such bills to over 35 billion naira with such scandalous appointments due to political declaration” he queried.
The Coalition for Good Governance comprises retired and serving seasoned technocrats in public and private sectors as well as academia with a common vision of ensuring the emergence of a pragmatic and visionary administration to restore the lost glory of Cross River State