By Jonathan Ugbal: Government House Correspondent Follow
@NaijaJonathan
Cross River Governor, Senator Ben Ayade has explained the
rationale behind expanding government pointing out that his bid to industrialize
the state will be meaningless if the people were hungry.
Mr. Ayade who said he has a total of 3,843 appointees pointed
out that the statistics have clearly showed that his decision was a good one
which according to him was evident in the voluntary payments of utility and
medical bills amongst others.
“When you look at Section 14, sub section 2 of our constitution,
the welfare and security of the citizens is the primary purpose of government;
of what essence is the Superhighway, the deep seaport or whatever when my
people cannot feed?” said Mr. Ayade Wednesday, in Calabar, the state capital
while addressing a crowd of over 7,000 drawn from the seven local government
areas that make up the southern senatorial district who had gathered to endorse
him to seek a second term in office.
He continued: “That is why I expanded government not because I
have, but because ultimately, God sees my heart. As difficult as it appears,
everything looks so cheap and easy for me because I care.
“Ordinarily, under the circumstance of our times, what we should
have been doing is oligaramizing the economy; we should have done a helical
constriction, to focus on the core needs of governance. But, I have chosen to
serve my people because I come from your own history; I come from your heritage
and your origin; I understand you, I feel you; there is a tympanic
relationship.”
t ympanic relationship.”
And, after several
speeches from different leaders, a motion for the endorsement of Mr. Ayade and
his deputy was moved by the Deputy Speaker of the Cross River State House of
Assembly, Mr. Joseph Bassey (PDP, Calabar South 1) and seconded by Mr. Ogban
Ogban.
Mr. Bassey said the motion was borne out of
a careful evaluation of Mr. Ayade’s performance and other factors. He said
that: “On behalf of the people of southern senatorial district, seven alive;
after carefully evaluating, crystallizing all the activities and projects of
our governor, we the people of southern senatorial district hereby move and be
moved that Senator Professor Ben Ayade should be adopted as a consensus
candidate in the 2019 elections.”
The endorsement comes as some sort of grand
finale after the three federal constituencies in the same senatorial district
had at several times in the past two weeks did same with Mr. Esu in attendance.
And, despite claims by several speakers
that the event was nonpartisan, paraphernalia of the People’s Democratic Party
(PDP) could be seen everywhere with all the major actors and organizers, known
members of the party.