The Cross River State governor, Prof Ben Ayade, reportedly locked out civil servants working in the government house over lateness to work.

It was gathered that prof. Ayade who came to work before 8: 00 am ordered the Chief Security Officer (CSO), to lock the governor’s office gate and not allow anyone coming after the said time to enter the office.

The Special Adviser to Governor on Media and Publicity, Mr. Christian Ita said, “The normal resumption time is 8am and if a governor can be in office at that time, why can’t others be around.

“The governor has always shown reward and sanction to workers; he doesn’t hesitate to sanction when you err and also reward you when you are committed to duty,”

When Vanguard visited the governor’s office at about 10:45 am on Wednesday, over 100 civil servants were stranded at the gate while some were seen leaving the premises.

“The governor was surprised to see that many of the civil servants were not on seat when he came in. He immediately ordered for the resumption of time book and asked the Chief Security Officer to lock the gate against anyone coming thereafter, the source said.