By Onwa Ekor, Calabar
Cross River Commissioner for Finance, Mr Mike Odere, says the present administration has been able to pay off about N70 billion of its inherited debt without borrowing.
Odere disclosed this during an interactive session held by the governor, Prince Bassey Otu with select resident business leaders and influential figures in Calabar, recently.
Odere maintained that the development was a testament that Prince Otu-led administration has continuously followed international accounting standards, thereby restoring public trust and confidence in all her dealings.
Cross River governor Prince Bassey Otu, on his part, assured the business community of his administration’s resolve to providing a conducive environment aimed at positioning the state as a prosperous sub-national entity.
He stressed the importance of active involvement by business leaders in the state programs and visions to bolster the local economy.
Otu also disclosed that effective and strategic planning have been reinstated within the state government’s framework, with the groundwork for economic advancement meticulously laid out through established clusters.
In his presentation, the Vice Chairman of the State Planning Commission, Dr. Bong Duke, identified the state development priorities to include productive and profitable agriculture, enhanced tourism services as well as developing a solid private sector-driven economy.
He added that the priorities also includes expanding access to affordable and qualitative education and social services, building, upgrading, and maintaining infrastructure services, as well as institutionalising essential health care services, and providing sustainable environmental services.
Duke also revealed that the current administration has developed the Local Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (LEEDS), for local government administration, admitting that, the state government expects the soon-to-be-elected local government council officers to key into the LEEDS agenda.
Other members of the State Economic Team who spoke at the meeting included the State Attorney General, Barr. Ededem Ani, the Commissioner for Agriculture. Mr. Johnson Ebokpo; Dr. Francis Ntamu, the Director-General of the Bureau of Public-Private Partnership; and the convener of the interactive session, High Chief Higgins Peters.
They all emphasized the need for substantial infrastructure development in Cross River, focusing on roads, bridges, and other essential facilities to support economic growth, while marshalling out plans to attract private sector infrastructure investment, to boost the state’s overall development.
