The Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) in Cross River State has lamented that Governor Ben Ayade, who was sworn into office on Friday, inherited “a failed state” from his predecessor, former governor Liyel Imoke.
According to IPAC, Ayade inherited numerous problems from Imoke, whose administration the body accused of running the state into financial crisis.
In a press statement signed by the Chairman of the IPAC, Mr. Goodie Akpama, which was made available to THISDAY on Saturday, the group said the regime led by the former governor was ruled by a small cabal that worked assiduously at placing the state in the topmost bracket of the league of bankrupt, and therefore, failed state in Nigeria.
“The Imoke regime has left behind a failed state and an utterly hopeless people which he had the rare privilege of leading for eight uninterrupted years,” the IPAC stressed.
The statement said “the N123 billion debt burden the Imoke –led administration claimed it left behind is a far cry from actual reality about the debt profile state of Cross River state that Imoke-led administration left behind. Those who are very much abreast with the debt situation of the state have put it at over N400 billion.”
The body said despite the problems inherited by the new administration, Ayade deserve no sympathy because he knows the weight of financial burden and mess that has been foisted on him by the former administration in the state.
The IPAC said aside from the debt profile of the state, the Imoke administration is leaving behind a completely disorientated work force “that suffered very serious dehumanisation and deprivation in the eight years Imoke held sway.”
Recalling the earlier position of the group, the IPAC chairman said the transition activities from Imoke’s administration to Ayade’s was done under wraps , perhaps to veil the true position of the economy of the state from the citizens.
The IPAC tasked Ayade to ensure that he runs a transparent government and should tell the people the true position of things in the state that he inherited from Imoke.
“Though we sympathise with Ayade for the problems he has inherited from Imoke, we make haste to remind Ayade that the patience of Cross Riverians won’t remain inelastic. Ayade cannot pretend not to have known Cross River State financial standing which has assumed embarrassing proportion. This, he must tell the people before it becomes too late for him to handle alone and get the state out of the woods, ” the IPAC said father.
The statement said holding the handover ceremony at the Calabar International Conference Centre (CICC) ,which is at the fringes of Tinapa, was carefully crafted to forestall a situation where Imoke would have been booed by the people, especially worker  who were aggrieved with his failed leadership for eight years.
In condemning the holding of the handing over ceremony on Friday at the CICC instead of the traditional venue; the U J. Esuene Stadium, the IPAC said, “The CICC is a white elephant project that has contributed to making the state go bankrupt.”