WITH about four months until the completion of his tenure, Cross River State Governor Ben Ayade, on Tuesday, swore in Adamu Musa and 12 others as commissioners.
With the development, Musa becomes the first non-indigene Muslim to be appointed a commissioner in the state.
The governor also used the occasion to announce a minor cabinet reshuffle in two ministries, which saw Eric Anderson, the former Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, assume the office of Commissioner for Information and Orientation.
Similarly, Oliver Orok who helmed the Ministry of Sustainable Development, is now the Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources.
The new commissioners filled positions made vacant by their predecessors who left either to vie for elective offices or resigned following the governor’s defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC) from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The swearing-in which took place at the Executive Chamber of the Governor’s Office, Calabar had in attendance the Deputy Governor, Prof. Evara Esu; the state Chief Judge, Justice Akon Ikpeme; and First Lady, Dr Linda Ayade, among other top government functionaries and guests.
Ayade, in his address, urged the new commissioners to work assiduously to ensure that his administration finished strong.
“Your coming on board is not by accident; you have been carefully selected based on your integrity and competence to bring your wealth of experiences to bear on our administration,” he said.
“I, therefore, charge you to work assiduously to ensure that we finish strong as an administration. Your jobs are all cut out for you, I expect that you make our dear state proud.”
While responding on behalf of the new Commissioners, Dr Janet Ekpenyong, who replaced APC’s National Woman Leader, Dr Betta Edu, as Commissioner for Health, commended the governor for “finding us worthy to join you in the crystallisation of Cross River State, changing and transforming our state for the betterment of all Cross Riverians.”
Ekpenyong, who was before her new appointment the Director-General of Cross River Primary Health Care Development Agency, pledged that she and her colleagues would represent the governor well in their various ministries.
“We will work in line with your vision and plan for Cross River State,” she said.
The newly sworn-in commissioners include Ekwele Agube (Sustainable Development), Sunday Awara (Social Housing), Wogor Umari (Homeland Security), Hippolytus Lukputa (Water Resources), Patrick Ebam (Special Duties), Okama Inyang (Infrastructure).
Others are Denet Nsing (Climate Change), Goddy Eta (Finance), Arikpo Edet (Science and Technology), Ntufam Iso (Culture and Tourism), Gertrude Njar (Women Affairs), and Musa (Inter-Governmental Affairs).