A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Cross River State, Mr Goddie A. Akpama, has lauded the decision of the state governor, Prof Ben Ayade, to downsize his cabinet for better service delivery.
The Cross River State governor has a record number of over 6, 000 appointees.
In a statement released in Calabar on Thursday, Ayade had directed all his commissioners and other appointees of government to prepare their handover notes and forward same to him on or before Friday, April 26, 2019.
The statement, which was signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor and Senior Special Assistant on Media, Mr. Christian Ita, said the governor intends to reduce the size of his cabinet “considerably”.
“His Excellency, Governor Ben Ayade will run a smaller and tighter cabinet in his second term in office in order to engender a more focused administration for better service delivery,” the statement read in part.
Reacting to the development in Calabar Saturday, Akpama said, “It is good for the Governor to reduce his executive council and other appointments to a quality number. This would help save the government the problem of too many people doing nothing or the same thing.
“A small number can do what a large number can do, it all has to do with the right thinking people, those who have to add not just to extract. It has to do with people with quality and sense of honour to support the governor. I support his position of downsizing his appointees, but he should do that not based on favoritism. The Governor needs credible people who have quality and capacity to offer to government value.
“We can take examples of Commissioners in the past two administrations. The present idea of food-on-the-table policy is not a proper approach to solving the job situation, but the creation of jobs. It is good, but this thing is a circle and there has to be a return for what government gives.Government should not be giving people food and making them lazy when they don’t add value to governance.
“The governor has built a brand in people and I believe they can start from there. No government has ever carried along people like Ayade’s government, but what is the future of all the appointees after Ayade? People should work for money. Ayade has done well, his decision to downsize is excellent and timely.”
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