The Cross River State government of Governor Bassey Otu is under pressure from the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) to try to pay back governmental officials who departed the state many years ago but have never received their gratuities.
It can be remembered that shortly after taking office in 2023, Governor Otu issued ten billion naira to somewhat balance the debt, but this wasn’t enough to clear the backlog. We now know that gratuities owed to a number of elderly people go back a long way.
During their 2026 July Congress, the NUJ Cross River State Council urged the state government to pay these retiring public officers’ gratuities as soon as possible.
Many pensioners rely on these payments for their livelihood, it said in its statement delivered at the close of the conference.
The administration was strongly encouraged by the council to continue allocating more monies to settle the debts.
Comrade Archibong Bassey, who chairs the congress, voiced his dismay at the rising number of incidents of careless driving by certain commercial dispatch riders in a separate call.
The report lamented the fact that carelessness has resulted in numerous car accidents across the state.
In order to decrease preventable accidents, Congress has requested that the State Traffic Management Agency, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), and other appropriate authorities increase enforcement of traffic restrictions and guarantee that dispatch riders strictly adhere to road safety requirements.