November 10, (THEWILL) – Ahead of the next gubernatorial elections in Cross River State, aspiring candidates have been challenged to answer questions on the nearly one trillion naira debt profile of the state.
Andrew Thomas, a keynote speaker, made this known in his address during a Zoom meeting organised by the Youths Alliance for Cross River Voters.
The meeting, themed “Preparing Youths For the Task Ahead: An Insight into Choosing the Right Persons” and was facilitated by Effiong Nyong, an ace presenter.
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 naira 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 actualise it”, he said.
He charged youths to ask these hard and difficult questions.
He also said the huge debt profile has not translated to reality for the people.
He said 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.
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.
About the Author
THEWILL Correspondent, Aniekan Bassey has over six years experience that spans across several fields in print journalism including development communication, sexual reproductive and health rights issues, crime, climate change, social justice, business and human interest stories.
