National vice chairman, South-South of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Hilliard Etta, has kicked against the signature projects of Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River State, saying, “in modern governance, governments do not do business, but only provides an enabling environment for businesses to thrive.”
Etta, who was fielding questions from journalists in Calabar, said the signature projects of the governor were fantastic, but not realisable, saying, for instance, “the 260km super highway from Calabar to Katsina-Ala will gulp over N700 billion, which is way beyond the capacity of the state government.”
The APC national vice chairman, who is also a member of the presidential committee for the reconstitution of Federal Boards, said: “I question the signature projects of Governor Ayade because we need a conversation with the governor, so that he can tell us the true position of the state’s economy.
“Because this is the man who is telling us that he is paying salaries from his pocket, and at the same time saying that he will construct a deep seaport at Bakassi, build a garment factory, build a rice city, construct an international airport at Ogoja, when the existing Calabar channel inlet that has been awarded at N20 billion contract twice by a PDP government cannot function.
“I want the governor to say where this money will come from. Secondly, what is wrong with the Calabar existing port?”
Etta said his question had always been to know the state of health of Cross River economy, while also criticising what he described as the excessive travelling of the governor to woo investors.
According to him, Governor Ayade needs to create a conducive environment and the right infrastructure before any serious investor can come into the state. He alleged that the state was at the bottom rung of states in Nigeria on ease of doing business, which need to change.
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