By Ani Bassey
Youths drawn from across the country have called on candidates aspiring to govern Cross River State to answer questions on debt repayment plans.
Andrew Thomas, a Keynote speaker made this known in his address during a Zoom Meeting and Conference organized by the Youths Alliance for Cross River Voters.
The meeting had a theme: Preparing Youths For the Task Ahead, An Insight into Choosing the Right Persons, and was facilitated by Effiong Nyong.
Thomas said “The State’s debt profile is a topic most people don’t want to know and it’s almost a trillion naira.
“This comprises 161 billion naira local debts and a foreign component of 192 million nairas and this amounts to almost a trillion naira going by the current exchange rate.
“Anyone who wants to lead the state has to answer questions on how to address the debt burden.
“The next governor has to commit not to take any loan and the electorates must extract this promise from the next governor.
“It is not enough to be a former this or that, he must tell us what he wants to do and how to actualize it.
“He should tell us how he will govern, pay for projects and also how accessible he will be to the electorate”, he said.
He said the state’s finances is in dire straits as workers are presently on strike and women were recently tear-gassed for demanding their salaries.
He charged youths to ask these hard and difficult questions.
He also said the huge debt profile of the state has not translated to reality for the people.
Thomas stressed that the incoming governor should not claim ignorance of the debt profile of the state and said projects should not exceed 36 months because any project longer than this is a conduit.
He called on youths not to despair as the way out for the state is for youths to participate at the very basic level.
The electoral process he said is not perfect but it can change if much more youths get involved starting from the basic level which is voter registration.
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One of the participants, Nkechi Mordi said youths should embrace the electoral process and participate actively in it.
She said this participation begins with voters registration which is critical in participating in the electoral process.
Also speaking, Ota Odey stressed the need for accessibility.
He said a situation where a governor is not accessible to the people creates a serious vacuum in governance.
