By Balimwor Ekpe
The Deputy Governor of Cross River State, Rt. Hon. Peter Odey has referred to members of the College of Permanent Secretaries as the custodians of the institutional memory of the state, disclosing that he owes his success to his decision to learn from some of the Permanent Secretaries he met in the office.
The Deputy Governor made the comment when the Exco of the State College of Permanent Secretaries visited his office.
Rt. Hon. Peter Odey lauded their commitment to services to the state government and advised them to implement directives from the Governor for great achievements.
The Deputy Governor expressed optimism that the Governor will look into their statutory rights.
Hon Odey used the forum to intimate that pension and gratuities will be cleared soon as the bottlenecks created by the bloated wage bill are being dealt with.
Earlier, the Provost of the College and leader of the delegation, Barr. Peter Bassey, said the college, which represents high end reservoir of technocrats and bureaucrats that the state can boast of has progressively been relegated to the background by previous administrations. He appealed to the present administration to revamp the cadre by filling the ranks as necessary ensuring that Permanent Secretaries occupy offices befitting their position, as well as provide incentives commensurate with their status.
He used the opportunity to intimate the Deputy Governor of some of their statutory entitlements which include accommodation, furniture allowance and provision of car.
In attendance was the Head of Service and Chairman of Council, Dr. Innocent Eteng, Head of Personal Staff to the Deputy Governor, Dr. Chris Ojikpong, other Exco members of the College of Permanent Secretaries.
