Governor of Cross River State, Prof. Ben Ayade, Appoints 1,106 Persons into Various Positions.

The Governor of Cross River State, Prof. Ben Ayade,
on Tuesday appointed 1,106 persons into various
positions.
The positions were in the categories of special
advisers, special assistants, personal assistants as
well as the chairmen and members of boards,
commissions, departments and agencies.
The governor had, in a parley with journalists in
August, reiterated his decision to appoint over
1,000 political appointees for poverty alleviation in
the state.
So far, there are 28 commissioners in addition to 65
special advisers and over 100 special assistants,
personal assistants and community relations
officers.
A breakdown of the latest appointment shows that
799 were appointed into various boards,
commissions and agencies, while the remaining 307
appointees were categorised into special advisers
(six), senior special advisers (30), special
assistants (75) and Personal Assistants (25).
Others are personal assistants to paramount rulers
(16), representatives of each local government in
the state food bank unit (90), liaison officers for the
18 local government area and three senatorial
districts (21), special assistants on religious affairs
(18) and permanent secretaries (26).
In a statement issued by his Senior Special
Assistant on Media and Chief Press Secretary, Mr.
Christian Ita, the governor said the appointments
would take effect from November 1, 2016.
But reacting to the development, a former Special
Adviser to Ayade on Strategy and National Contact,
Mr. Ray Ugba-Morphy, said the appointments were
unnecessary.
Ugba-Morphy, who resigned from Ayade’s cabinet,
said, “He is a governor who understands all the
appointments that he is making. But considering
the lean purse of the state, it is not necessary
because those already appointed have not been
properly settled.
“The wages of political appointees are fixed by the
Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal
Commission as stipulated by the law, but he
(Ayade) has not met those requirements.
“It is right if the appointments are meant to settle
political scores, but economically, it is not viable.
He should create opportunity for people to have
skills to earn a living.”