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Huge number of political appointees causes stir in Cross River State

By Anietie Akpan, Calabar
03 November 2016   |   3:50 am
The decision of Cross River State Governor, Ben Ayade to increase the number of political appointees from a modest 98, which he inherited from his predecessor ...
Ben Ayade

Ben Ayade

The decision of Cross River State Governor, Ben Ayade to increase the number of political appointees from a modest 98, which he inherited from his predecessor, Liyel Imoke, to about 2000, is raising a lot of dust in a state that is grappling with increasing demand for governance and diminishing revenue.

Many major stakeholders like fellow politicians and members of the organised labour, have disagreed with the governor on what sources within the government argued was an attempt to create jobs for the unemployed population.

Few months after assumption of office last year, Ayade employed about 800 political appointees thereby raising the number of politicians on government payroll from what his predecessor had to cope with.

The appointees included numerous Special Assistants and Advisers, board members, permanent secretaries and doubled the number of ministries from 14 to 28 to accommodate new set of Commissioners for the newly created ministries. As at the last count, Ayade’s administration has a total of 1,906 political appointees.

On the fresh appointments of about 1,100 politicians, a statement signed by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Christian Ita, said “the new appointments take effect from November 1, 2016.”

But some stakeholders have described the appointments as a big waste on state funds and questioned “this kind of job creation for huge political appointees in the face of dwindling revenue and several other financial challenges.”

The state’s workforce is about 22,000 comprising both local governments and mainstream civil service and it is being serviced with over N4.5 billion monthly wage bills.

The governor in an earlier briefing had given a breakdown of the salaries saying the local government and the state service consume N2.1 billion and N2.4 billion monthly respectively. He said the huge bill is causing the state a monthly deficit of N2 billion.

Drawing attention to the development, former State Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Attah Ochinke rejected his inclusion in the list of new political appointees saying the state cannot afford to bear such a huge economic burden at this time.

In a statement, he said, “My attention has, this morning (October 25), been drawn to radio announcements to the effect that I have been appointed Chairman of the Cross River State Diaspora Fund Board by His Excellency Governor Ben Ayade.
“While I thank the Governor for having confidence in my capacity by giving me this appointment, I am unable to accept this responsibility. I have had the privilege to express my views on the size of government in private discussions with Governor Ayade. I still hold those views.”

Also reacting to the issue, Chairman Joint Public Service Negotiating Council (JPSNC) in the state, Comrade Thomas Igbang said, “having such a large number of appointees is very unfortunate because we have areas of need that the government should be employing civil servants and not employing politicians.

“For him, he is making it look as if he is employing but that is the wrong way. If you put career civil servants, certainly the pay will be less and the impact will be more on the society because he may even employ more people than the over 1,100 politicians he just employed now.

“In the health sector, we have serious shortage of nurses, doctors, pharmacists of all the cadres but government is not concerned with that and it is unfortunate. We are just watching and these things are unfortunate.”

On the impact on the wage bill, he said, “sometimes I wonder when we say the state does not have money. If we do not have money we should be more prudent with management but I do not see any prudence in what is being done now. Certainly the wage bill is going to go up.

“Even if he is going to pay them N150, 000 per month, which certainly will be more, just multiply that and add to the wage bill. For me it is unnecessary.”

Ayade’s former Special Adviser on Strategy and National Contact, Rev. Ray Ugba Murphy who resigned from the administration said, “Look at the recent appointments and the duplications. Take as an example Special Assistant Religious matter, one per local government, one Special Adviser, one Senior Special Assistant and 18 others in the councils…

“What is the government’s business in appointing SAs on religion? It is very sad because the governor represents me, he is a governor from the North and the Northern Cross River has nothing to show for it. As far as I am concerned this is democracy and we have the right to point out what is wrong so that they can take correction.

“This is no job creation because job creation is based on sustainable activities that add value to the economy. You do not create job by fiat, you create job by processes that provide services to the economy, which will achieve purposes of an economy. If you appoint 50,000 people who produce nothing, you have not created jobs. You are digging the hole of poverty deeper.

“In economics, job creation is to stimulate the economy in such a way that it will have a multiplier effect. Let assume you cultivate 100 hectres of land in the local government apportion it to youths, you have created jobs because ones those youths go there and farm they produce things that they will sell which will have a multiplier effect on the economy. That is job creation in an economy. To take money from the state coffer and hand out to people who provide no services, such a thing is not sustainable and that is not job creation.

“Even when you use the Keynesian method which says public spending boosts the economy, yes it is so when you have the local people participating in the business that you are boosting. The best thing is to create people that can participate in the economy and that is one of the advice that I gave and the governor did nothing about it.”

Defending his decision however, the governor at a news conference in Calabar explained, “the expansion of government was a deliberate policy to find a way to release whatever government has to every home, so that there is food on the table for every house. If it is not directly to you, it is to your uncle or to your niece. Even when Cross River does not have, we took appointees from about 98 to almost 800 and now we have a new list.”

He said, “As we have our financial challenges, our receipt at all time is below what our salary is. If you don’t understand third world politics or economy, you will never understand leadership. But trust me, I will never owe salary. Any salary we owe is just this short period we are doing staff biometrics (the staff audit is over and the outcome is being expected). You see some people’s names kept reoccurring on pay role yet the person retired many years ago.

“Salary comes first on my list. There is no infrastructure that is better than a human being. I will rather stay and spend four years paying salary, reducing hunger of my people and say goodbye to politics and never seek rerun than to focus on rerun and projects at the expense of the people.

“It is a third world economic model because it operates on sluggish economic steps. The alternative means of employment other than government are very limited, so government must recognise that the welfare of the people is key.

“If I save money to construct a bridge and I don’t have people to go through that bridge what happens? I believe that God will always give me the means to pay. Among the less-educated in the mind, they could mistake that as a jamboree but it is not.”

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