By SUNNY OKIM

Akwa Ibom State government has slashed salaries of all political appointees in the state.

The Secretary to the State Government, Dr Emmanuel Ekuwem disclosed this in a statement earlier today made available toNews Express.

According to Ekuwem, the decision to cut the salaries by 20 per cent was taken in response to the prevailing economic realities in the state.

"In response to the prevailing economic realities of dwindling revenues, caused by the crash in the price of crude oil in the global market, His Excellency, Governor Udom Emmanuel, has painfully directed, the slashing of salaries of all political office holders by 20%," the statement said.

The SSG said the governor was confronted with an urgent need to take decision on either of two painful options: continue to pay the current salaries for a while and end up being totally unable to pay same subsequently or spread the discomfort (20% cut) sustainably over a period of time pending the return of crude oil price to normalcy in the global market.

"We must not forget that it was by the same ancient principle of 'necessity is the mother of invention', that led to the establishment of the Akwa Ibom State Post COVID-19 ECONOMIC RECONSTRUCTION COMMITTEE by His Excellency the Governor, to recommend navigable routes out of this global economic morass for our state.

"Let us all know and appreciate the fact that these measures are temporary. Akwa Ibom State Government will transparently resume full payment of salaries when this dark cloud passes," the statement added.

Meanwhile, today as made known in the 11th in the series the Akwa Ibom State COVID-19 Committee periodic updates since April 1, 2020 when the first sets of confirmed cases were announced in the state, Akwa Ibom now has 18 confirmed cases, 12 discharged cases and 2 deaths. This makes it a total of 4 active cases in the state as at Tuesday, May 19, 2020.