The governor of Cross River State has caused a stir among his people after paying their December salary on the very first day of the month.
Ben Ayade
Civil servants in Cross River State are now celebrating as Governor Ben Ayade paid December salary yesterday, December 1st, giving them an early Christmas.
According to The Nation, Governor Ayade at a retreat for political appointees at the Obudu Ranch Resort gave a hint that the December salary would be paid on the first day of the month.
Yesterday, he fulfilled that promise as workers got “alerts” of salary payment from their banks.
In May, salaries were paid on the first day to mark Workers’ Day. And last month, salaries were paid on November 15.
Some workers expressed delight at the early payment of salary ahead of the yuletide, especially as the state got zero allocation from the Federation Account this month.
Ayade said on early payment of salary: “Any governor can pay salary on the 25th of every month. For me, that is not what I like because it is not challenging. It is nothing extraordinary.”
He urged workers to be prudent on how they spend their salary.
He however promised “to be there should you run into any financial difficulty before end of January.”