From: JUDEX OKORO, Calabar

There was mild drama at the Cross River State Secretariat, on Wednesday, as Governor Ben Ayade, locked out SSG for lateness to work.

Others affected included some top political aides, top civil servants of Government House, Calabar.

Ayade, on his first day in office on June 1, 2015, locked out civil servants, apparently to serve as a deterrence to others, warning that all heads of MDAs must live up to their responsibilities.

According to him, it is high time civil servants served in line with prescribed rules to deliver on the desired gains to the populace.

The Governor was said to have arrived office yesterday before 7:30am only to find his entrance locked, but opened after spending some minutes outside.

Piqued by the lateness of some of the key staff of governor’s office, he directed that all entrances be locked and no one allowed to come in just as watched on CCTV the development.

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As at the time of arriving at Governor’s Office, the special Assistant and Press Secretary to Governor, Mr Christian Ita, was the only appointee in the office with two members of the Press corps including Daniel Williams and Nakanda Iyadim.

It was also learnt that the Deputy, Professor Ivara Esu, arrived about am 8:00am and was allowed in.

However, attempts were made to stop some security operatives who sneaked in with his convoy.

Speaking, the Special Assistant and Press Secretary to Governor Ayade, Mr. Christian Ita, said the locking of the offices was to instill discipline and ginger workers to sit up.

One of the affected workers, who don’t want his name in print said the normal time for civil servants to resume work every day is 8:15 am, adding that though the governor has been trying in times of payment of salary.

According to part of the reason of why they come late was difficulty in getting taxi down to their various offices due to presence of too many task forces that force motorists out of the road.