Godfather/godson battle begins as Gov. Otu gets set to sack Ayade’s Permanent Secretaries

By Sixtus Uket (Calabar)
The anticipated battles for independence between political godfathers and their godsons has started in Cross River State as the incumbent Governor, Senator Bassey Otu, is daring the immediate past Governor, Senator Ben Ayade by constituting a committee to review the appointment of Permanent Secretaries carried out in the State civil service by the immediate past administration four days to the end of its tenure.
The Committee is headed by a serving Permanent Secretary, Dr. Aye Henshaw, and has the responsibility to sanitize the process and weed out all those who do not meet the requisite qualification for the offices into which they were appointed.
The Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Prof. Anthony Owan-Enoh, had said in a meeting with Permanent Secretaries that, “it is only proper that the appointments be made in accordance with the civil service recommendations.”
The Secretary to State Government also directed that, “henceforth no further extension of service beyond your retirement date, insisting that people must vacate when they retire from service.”
Global Patriot Newspapers gathered that “it was a sad day for all those who had cut corners to realize the dream of getting the top appointments, as government said it would do all within its powers to right the wrongs and give the service a befitting outlook.”
It would be recalled that the appointment of the Permanent Secretaries in the State Civil Service had, allegedly, been marred by discrepancies and had continued to be a subject of statewide discourse.
It was learnt that from the beginning of the appointments, many had condemned the mode of selection, insisting that as far as the civil service was concerned most of the appointees lacked merit and were done on grounds of personal consideration.
“In many instances, those appointed were promoted from Level 14 to 17 to qualify to get the appointments while their mates without ‘tentacles’ in the service remained stagnated.
“It was merely a reward for loyalty to ex-Governor Ben Ayade and his cronies,” our source alleged.
Another source close to government told Global Patriot Newspapers that the move by Governor Otu, “is a welcome development” and thanked the Governor for the bold step which he said will signal the beginning of his assertion of his independence of much despised Ayade administration.
Meanwhile, the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) has not responded to calls to confirm the report and the Head of Service, Mr. Ogbang Akwaji is yet to comment on the issue, but those who suspect they might suffer pain from that decision are calling on stakeholders to swiftly intervene to stop Governor Otu from carrying through the policy.
It was gathered that, among other alleged anomalies, that the immediate past governor of the State, Prof. Ben Ayade, swore into office 18 new Permanent Secretaries on Thursday, May 25, 2023, barely four days to his hand over date of May 29, 2023.
Among those sworn in were those who had retired from service in April and May this year.