He said: “There was no time in the course of my press briefing that I referred to former Governor Ben Ayade or his administration…”
By Ike Uchechukwu
Cross River State Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Hon. Pius Edet, has debunked media reports credited to him alleging that the immediate past governor, Prof. Ben Ayade left an empty treasury and dilapidated infrastructure across the state.
Hon. Edet dismissed the media reports while briefing journalists, Friday, in Calabar, the State capital.
Our reporter gathered that the Works and Infrastructure Commissioner had earlier in the week addressed journalists on the activities of his ministry and the ongoing road rehabilitation and construction in Calabar, the state capital.
He said: “There was no time in the course of my press briefing that I referred to former Governor Ben Ayade or his administration.
“I had made it clear to reporters that His Excellency, Governor Bassey Otu was committed to giving the state capital a face-lift, despite the paucity of funds, because Calabar remains the face of Cross River as well as Nigeria’s tourism hub,” the Commissioner added.
Hon. Edet also said he could not have spoken about the financial situation of the state “when I am neither the Commissioner for Finance, the Commissioner for Information nor the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity.
“I must state very clearly that I have a lot of respect for the former governor, Prof. Ben Ayade who made me a commissioner during the final year of his administration. I still owe him a debt of gratitude, even as he remains one of my benefactors.
“The report was totally untrue and a deliberate act of mischief. For reiteration and for emphasis, I did not say what was wrongly imputed to me in the news report about the former governor and his administration. If anything, I was also part of that administration.
“It is imperative, therefore, to clarify and state that at no point did I mention the former governor’s name or refer to the state’s treasury.
“My remarks during the interview were strictly on matters pertaining to my ministry, where I revealed the dire financial challenges the ministry was facing, owing to the general economic crunch in the country.
“As Commissioner for Works, I am not competent to speak on the financial status of the state or its treasury,” he further stated.
Edet maintained that “the attempt to tarnish the past administration of Governor Ben Ayade, under which I served as Commissioner, is ostensibly aimed at sowing a seed of discord between the former governor and his successor, Senator Bassey Otu.”
“It is outright mischief and we condemn such actions in the strongest possible terms,” he remarked.
While urging that the report be disregarded, Edet said he remains committed to assisting Governor Bassey Otu provide quality infrastructural development to the people of Cross River State.