Gov. Dave Umahi of Ebonyi has ordered the immediate retirement of all permanent secretaries in the state’s civil service.
This is contained in a statement signed by the governor’s Principal Secretary, Chief Clement Nweke, and made available to the media on Sunday in Abakaliki.
According to the statement, only the Clerk of the State House of Assembly, Rose Nwokporo, is exempted from the retirement exercise.
“The affected officers are to complete all handover exercises in their respective ministries, boards and agencies before the close of work on Monday, Nov. 16.
“All commissioners, heads of parastatals and agencies in the state, are to ensure total compliance to this directive,” the statement said.
In a related development, the Ebonyi Government has debunked media report that Government House in Abakaliki was gutted by fire on Friday.
A statement by Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Emma Anya urged citizens of the state to disregard the report, calling 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, 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) Sen. Pius Anyim’s mother-inlaw, 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 indicated that only a photocopier and television set were slightly affected, and that no portion of the government house was gutted by the fire.
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