Cross River State Governor, Ben Ayade, has disclosed the conferment of 2019 Governor of the Year by the Independent Newspapers Governor on him will spur him to do more for his people.
Ayade stated this in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, during presentation of a letter of notification by Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of the newspapers, Steve Omanufeme and the Chairman, 2019 Award Committee, Babs Alasa.
The Independent Newspaper award is one in a series of similar recognitions for Governor Ayade in 2019. Others are Champion Newspaper Governor of the Year as well as the Leadership Newspaper Governor of the Year.
The governor described the award as a great recognition and a challenge to do more for the state in spite of the lean resources at his disposal.
While commending the selection process, Ayade said the award over the years has proved its integrity.
He said: “If it was for the highest bidder, neither I nor Cross River would have been able to afford it, but because the management of the newspaper chose credibility and performance above other considerations in its selection and nomination process.”
The governor, while dedicating the award to the people of Cross River, however, re-assured of continuity in his performance, even as he disclosed that despite the lean resources of the state, payment of civil servants salaries and pensioners’ gratuity will continue to be top of his agenda.