The Gubernatorial candidate for the Social Democratic Party, in the 2019 Cross River State Governorship elections Mr. Eyo Ekpo has revealed that the state is going backwards in terms of development and its tourist attraction of which it was known for and that the state needs people who will recover and restore its lost glory.
Mr. Eyo Ekpo
who served as the Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General of Cross River
State between 2003-2007 said there was zero tolerance of poor performance in
the Ministry and it remained a legacy till date.
When the
Media interacted with him, he made some revelations on things he will tackle if
he becomes Governor and how he intends to Recover and Restore Cross River State
to its glory days.
Eyo Ekpo
said "We in the SDP have hope anchored with competence, youthful energy
and integrity. Over time I have prepared myself unconsciously to take on
responsibility."
"It is
an impossible task to govern this state, if you are limited to the resources
being allocated to Cross River State."
"Cross
River was never set up to survive on a title called 'the civil servant state'.
There are three major sources of funds for a government to run its activities.
Money from the public sector, NGO and the private sector. Cross River State
used to have an enabling environment which attracted investors but today we can
obviously see we've lost that glory, I am committed to restoring Cross River
State to its glory days of which it was known for as a tourism hub."
Eyo Ekpo talking about the debt Cross River
would be piling up said “the current Governor of Cross River State doesn’t have
an idea on the current debt status of the state. The first step any sensible
governor would do when he assumes office is to take stock of the debt in his
state, when you know that, you can now restructure how to pay back. In Cross
River we pretend our debt doesn’t exist.”
Eyo Ekpo also elaborated on the power sector
of the state and said the central and northern part of Cross River State needed
generation of power since there was resources in those region than coming to
make a plant in the South.
Mr. Eyo Ekpo
said there was absence of governance in Cross River and he and his team would
definitely involve the people in every aspect of governance.
He talked
about the high rate of crime and cultism in the state saying ”Cultism is caused
by lack of opportunity for youthful energy, create opportunity for young
people, give them a reason to wake up everyday and do something meaningful with
their lives. He said Cross River State could create a trust fund which gives
room to put young people in internships, on the job trainings and offer
mentoring support for people who needed to establish a business of their own.”
He also said
“Cross River State could reduce cultism and crime rate by government officials
denouncing the cult groups they belong to before swearing oath into office.”
Eyo Ekpo
when asked on whether he would continue the signature projects of the present
administration like the deep seaport and superhighway, he replied “Do those
projects have business plans? Who are the project proponents? If the
superhighway and deep seaport were actually needed those who need it the most ‘the
private sector’, would be very much interested in funding it.”
He ended by
saying Cross River state needed people with content not certificates and
titles; people who would put the electorates in mind in every action they make
while in office.
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