Hundreds of workers were on Wednesday locked out of the Government House office by the governor of Cross River State, Ben Ayade, for lateness.

It was gathered that Ayade, who arrived at the office at 8 a.m., was surprised to see that many of the civil servants were not on seats.

The governor immediately ordered the opening of a register and asked the Chief Security Officer to lock the gate against any late-coming worker thereafter.

Those locked out included all cadre of workers, including top ranking officers of the state Civil Service as well as political appointees.

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Speaking on the development, the Special Adviser on Media to the governor, Christian Ita, said Governor Ayade had always frowned at indiscipline and shown reward to those committed to their responsibilities.

Ita said: “The normal resumption time is 8 a.m, 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.”

Several workers, who were locked out, were seen hanging around the entrance gate of the Government House.

The Star