In an interview with Arise News, the governor of Cross River state, Ben Ayade, made multiple claims in response to questions about his performance, few days to the end of his eight-years administration as governor.
Claim I: Ben Ayade claims he never secured any foreign loan during his administration as governor of Cross River state
Verification
CDD Election War Room checked to verify the claim and here is what we found.
An investigation supported by Policy Alert and published by The Mail on May 31, 2022, revealed how Ben Ayade’s administration acquired an unapproved foreign loan of N1.4 billion.
The report analyzed the 2020 Accountant-General’s audited financial statement of Cross River state government and how Ayade-led administration secured the external loan for what it tagged “AFD CRS National Programme for Food Security”.
The International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR) also published the report on June 1, 2022.
Verdict: FALSE
The claim by Cross River State governor, Ben Ayade, that his administration never acquired foreign loan, is false. The CDD Election War Room found an investigation published in 2022, which revealed how his administration secured foreign loan of N1.4 billion.
Claim II: Ben Ayade claims Cross River state has the lowest allocation in Nigeria
Verification
Report from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on the disbursement of funds by the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), showed that Cross River state is not the state with the lowest statutory allocation in Nigeria. Ogun state gets the lowest allocation as of the last report by NBS.
Verdict: FALSE
Claim III: Ben Ayade claims Cross River state was among the top three most indebted states before he became governor
Verification
Data from the Debt Management Office(DMO) showed that Cross River state was among the top three most indebted states before Ben Ayade was elected governor in 2015. The states were Lagos, Delta, and Cross River States.
Verdict: TRUE