Governor kicks against national privatization exercises

The Cross Rivers State Governor, Ben Ayade Thursday said privatization exercises being carried out by the Federal Government, was
unacceptable .

Fielding questions from journalists at the Presidential Villa after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, the governor said it is wrong for the government to take public asset and sell it into the hands of a few people.

“It is important to emphasize that privatization which has characterized the Nigerian economy for a long period is totally unacceptable, where government takes public asset and sell into the hand of few people.

“That is why I am very proud of Mr. President. Our President understands this very well and I’m sure that in the course of time, we will understand what he is doing. And when the results of his actions begin to manifest, Nigerians will know that he has come prepared and committed to take us to the path of glory. I must confess he is a very humble president” he said.

On governance in his state, Ayade said that his administration is committed to providing low-cost housing to citizens in his state and exempting the poor from paying taxes.

“Cross Rivers State is the first state that has passed dissenting bills into law within our first one hundred days in office. It has the highest in any state in this country and some of the bills are very essential. Social housing that is proving housing for the poor and the needy because there is no government that calls itself a government, if you don’t respond to the needs of the vulnerable, you cannot call yourself a government. That is when you will bring transformation to government.

“It is also the same me that signed into law a bill that I originated to exempt the poor people from tax. Government’s profit is social harmony, government’s profit is provision of jobs for her people” he said

The Governor also explained that the President had postponed the scheduled trip to the state for the ground-breaking ceremony of the Super highway project due to some technical issues which is being addressed and not politics.

“Basically, what happened was that there was environmental issues, which was dully raised by the Ministry of Environment. There was a misconception that the purpose of a super-highway was criss crossing through the national park, which is the greatest habitation for our biodiversity in Africa” he said.

He said because of environmental concerns, it was totally impossible for the President, due to his high level of integrity and morality to proceed with the ground-breaking project. He added that the Ministry of Environment is now involved and ensuring that the route is well designed in a manner that it will not have any impact on the communities, and the national forest.

“So, it is against that background that the President asked that let us wait for all of those bits and pieces to be tidied up before he can come. It has no link with politics, it has no connectivity with the issues concerning funding. It was basically a technical issue that needed to be resolved and it has been resolved and I am happy to announce that the discussion with Mr. President this morning it is obvious that very soon a new date will be communicated” he said.

Elizabeth Archibong