By Our Reporter
With the recent award of The Governor of the Year on Industrialization Award to Governor Ben Ayade by the Blueprint Newspaper Ltd Abuja, penultimate week, the Commissioner for Rural Transformation, Mr Edem Okokon Effiom has said the Obudu-born Governor remained one of Cross River state’s best governors.
Efiom, who made the remarks at his grand declaration rally for the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Akpabuyo, maintained that because the governor has done well to catapult the state from civil service state to an industrial hub, the Governor needs to be commended and not vilified.
He added that the Governor had remained proactive in handling Cross River state’s many challenges especially with the meagre allocation from the centre and had given opportunities to the youths of the state than any other administration.
The Commissioner noted further that Ayade was not to be compared with anyone in the area of human development, adding that it would be morally unjustifiable to go against the man that has put food on the tables of Cross Riverians through creation of different opportunities, not minding the financial condition of the state.
“Cross River state had a governor when the 76 oil wells were collected but I don’t think it would have happened if His Excellency, Gov Ayade, was in charge then. This is because Governor Ayade is proactive. He is always ready to attend to every problem of the state at any given time.
“Look at when insecurity caused Cross Riverians to lose sleep, he quickly took steps to arrest it with the establishment of Operation Akpakwu security unit which has turned out to be a nightmare to criminals. Today, there is peace across the state,” he stated.
While thanking the leadership of All Progressive Congress from national to the state level and local government for receiving the governor and his millions of supporters with open arms, the Commissioner assured that come 2023 the APC’s victory would be 100 percent across the state.
He advised those still on the fence to take a decision now before it is late, but called on party members to always work together in love and unity to take the party forward. He said the grand rally had solidified their total integration into the mainstream APC.
