Governor Umahi Retires All Permanent Secretaries In Ebonyi

Posted by African Examiner Featured, Latest Headlines, News From The State Monday, November 16th, 2015

By Ignatius Okpara, Abakaliki

Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi, has ordered the immediate retirement of all the permanent secretaries in the state’s civil service.

Umahi, in a statement signed by his Principal Secretary, Chief Clement Nweke, Sunday stated that only the Clerk of the State House of Assembly, Mrs. Rose Nwokporo, is exempted from the retirement exercise.

The statement reads: “The affected officers are to complete all handover exercise in their respective ministries, boards and agencies before the close of work on Monday (today), November 16, 2015.

“All commissioners, heads of parastatals and agencies in the state, are to ensure total compliance to this directive.”

Similarly, the Ebonyi Government has denied media report that its State House in Abakaliki, the state capital was gutted by fire last Friday.

The Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the Governor, Mr Emma Anya in a statement also Sunday, urged residents of the state to disregard the report.

He called on media practitioners to be ethical in their conduct by verifying all sources of information.

“There was an electrical spark in the office of the Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the Governor on Petroleum Products Pricing and Distribution, Mr Bassey Chima.

“No portion of the office was damaged as the SSA was attending the burial of former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Senator Anyim Pius Anyim’s mother-in-law, when the incident occurred.

“When Chima was alerted of the incident, he ‘raced’ to Abakaliki and to God’s glory, staff of the government house had `doused’ the effect of the spark,” the statement read.

The statement said only a photocopier and television set were slightly affected, adding that no portion of the government house was gutted by the inferno.

The development is coming less than two weeks President Mohammadu Buhari, relieved 17 Permanent Secretaries in various federal ministries and immediately replaced them with another set of reporting officers.