Cross River's Governor Ayade locks three commissioners out for reporting late to work

CROSS River State governor Ben Ayade ordered that three members of his cabinet be locked out of their ministries yesterday for showing up late to work after he paid surprise visits to their ministries and they were not on seat.

 

As part of a move to enforce discipline in the Cross River State public service, Governor Ayade has instructed that all his commissioners must be at their desks by 8am. Yesterday, the governor paid surprise visits to the ministries of agriculture, water resources and sustainable development and on finding out that the commissioners were not there, ordered the gates be locked.

 

At the ministry of agriculture, where Governor Ayade made his first port of call, neither the commissioner, Professor Egrinya Eneji, nor any of his directors were available to receive him and no explanation was offered for their unavailability. At a similar visit to the ministry of water resources in Calabar, the governor was visibly enraged that the commissioner, Gabe Odu Orji, was not on duty as of the time of his unscheduled visit.

 

At the ministry of sustainable development, the governor was equally disappointed that the commissioner, Oliver Orok, was yet to report for work. He subsequently directed that all the defaulting commissioners to be summarily locked out of their offices.

Of the four ministries visited, only the commissioner for women affairs, Stella Odey, was on hand to receive the governor, who he commended for her devotion to duty. Governor Ayade expressed his disappointment at the seeming lack of dedication to duty by the various heads of the ministries.

Governor Ayade said: “I am saddened by what I have seen this morning. It is shocking that it is already gone past 8am and yet commissioners cannot be found on their seats.

 

"I will not take kindly to this culture of lateness to work and I am going to do something about it. I must, however, commend you Mrs Odey, for your exceptional conduct, so please do keep it up.”

 

Eager to build a reputation as an action governor and put Cross River State on the map, Governor Ayade has sought to introduce numerous new reforms since assuming office last May,. He plans to open diplomatic missions abroad to attract investors and plans to build Rice City, a new city that will have a solar-powered and automated rice seedling and nursery propagation centre.