Prof Ben Ayade, the Governor of Cross River state, has declared that his deputy will run the state as Acting Governor throughout his second term.
He said he will be at the sidelines playing the role of ‘Project Manager’ as he will relocate out of Calabar, the state capital.
According to him, Cross River will become an industrialized state under his watch.
Ayade stated this while delivering his inaugural address after he was sworn in on Wednesday for his second term as governor by the Chief Judge of the state, Justice Michael Edem at the U.J Esuene stadium.
He said: “Be committed and steadfast Cross River state will be an industrialised state under my watch. In this my second tenure, I will no longer be the governor. My Deputy will be the acting governor while I will become the project manager of Cross River state as I will relocate to Ikom LGA.
“This tenure will be food on the table, hands on the plough, no amount of investment in infrastructure will be equivalent to taking care of the well being of the people, paying salaries and employing them.
“We must understand that anytime our problems can only be solved by money then our intellect has failed us,” Ayade stated.
The governor who described the ceding of Bakassi as illegal and the 76 oil wells to Akwa Ibom as hurting said Cross River has been abused and reduced in body and soul.
He called on President Mohammadu Buhari to help the people of the state adding that all CrossRiverians should get ready because the Federal government must tell the state what Cross River State has done wrong.
“ The ceding of Bakassi and our oil well is unacceptable, where a country took our oil wells and gave to a state that has more Cross River feels highly hurt, we have been abused and reduced in body and soul but we are on a voyage of self-actualisation as a state,” he said.
