The governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, in Cross River State, Senator Sandy Ojang Onor, has promised to restore the lost glory of Cross River State if elected and make the State capital one of the cleanest in Nigeria as was before.
Senator Onor, who said this during a press conference in Calabar, also promised to tackle frontally the challenges the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, was facing in terms of state-of-the -art facilities.
“Believe me, we are getting to the end of these sufferings and neglect.When we get into office on May 29 this year, we will, by the grace of the Almighty, change the narrative for good.
“If I win the election, in three months time, I will renovate your press centre with the state-of-the-art facilities,” he submitted.
The Governorship hopeful called on the State government to, as a matter of urgency and necessity, clear off all heaps of refuse in Calabar, the State capital
“At this juncture, permit me to please make an appeal to the state government. Calabar was hitherto declared the cleanest state capital in Nigeria for many years.
“In fact, as commissioner for environment, I received several delegations from state governments, far and near; all of whom came to find out from us as a state, ways and means of keeping Calabar clean in particular and the state at large.
“Today, the reverse is the case. Our state is now known for mountains of refuse. We can truly, hardly breathe. The shame is becoming unbearable.
“Let the government please do everything to rid our state capital at least, of these heaps of dirt and disgrace. It is easy to deal with, and it is doable. We did it before and it can be done again and again,” he submitted.
On the division in his party, the PDP, the Senator said his party leadership was managing the situation the best way it could, saying there should be no cause for alarm.
He said further that his party was rejecting an alleged planned recruitment into the State civil service as, according to him, such recruitment would be fraught with illegalities and outright nepotism.
His words: “The outgoing government has deceived our people enough. We have, for instance, spoken many times against moves by the governor to embark on last minute programmes and projects, including the plan to conduct a recruitment exercise into the state civil service in the twilight of this administration.
‘At best, this is a voodoo exercise meant to curry favour from unsuspecting members of the public. It is one of the antics concocted by the present administration to buy the hearts of the people but unfortunately for them, our people are getting wiser.
“This exercise, if it holds, would end up laced intensely in nepotism, favouritism and sectionalism. It would be purely political and would not meet the genuine needs of the civil service. It is meant to rally troops for the 2023 elections and make the next government look bad by inflicting upon it a wage bill that is unpayable. The timing is wrong and the motive is completely mischievous and wicked, to say the least.
I wish to humbly assert that in as much as I know that our people need job opportunities in the state civil service, this one is deceitfully envisioned for political reasons.
“Recruitment exercises ought to be methodic, systematic and seen to be genuine; something that should be done in a gradual manner to allow the state and its people flow with it, based on the resources available.
“This one is coming with ulterior motives and is therefore unlikely to find the oxygen and legitimacy to stand the test of time.”
