More insights have been unveiled on the sacking of the commissioner for special duties, Mr Bassey Okon, who has been in office for exactly one year.
Okon was relieved of his duties on Monday evening through a three-paragraph letter by the secretary to the state government (SSG), Prince Enobong Uwah.
He directed the sacked commissioner to hand over all relevant documents to the permanent secretary.
“In an ongoing effort to reposition this administration in line with the ‘ARISE Agenda’, the governor of Akwa Ibom State, Pastor Umo Eno, has immediately relieved Dr. Bassey Okon of his position as commissioner for special duties.
“He is, therefore, directed to hand over to the permanent secretary in the ministry. In the meantime, the ministry will be supervised by the SSG pending appointment of a new commissioner,” parts of the statement read.
Although the governor did not explicitly state why Okon was dropped from the state executive council (SEC), a senior aide to the governor, who would not want his name in print, told LEADERSHIP that his sack may not be unconnected with alleged non-performance and failure to effectively implement the administration’s policies and programmes in line with the ‘ARISE Agenda’.
According to him, this is a prelude to the imminent cabinet reshuffle, after which more heads are expected to roll. Many commissioners have outlived their usefulness and are running out of ideas, having stayed for too long in the system.
He said, “The governor had stated in clear terms at the point of the inauguration of the current SEC, and at different times that every official must deliver or be shipped out of the cabinet.
“The governor’s action is a pointer to the fact that every appointee must demonstrate a high level and spirit of hard work because the governor is determined and, in a hurry, to consolidate on development indices laid by successive administrations.”
He said this is a warning signal and a wake-up call by the governor that he would not tolerate laziness and lackadaisical attitude from any appointee, no matter how highly placed.
“This is a prelude to the much-anticipated cabinet reshuffle because more heads will roll. Most of the commissioners have become deficient in ideas because some have stayed in the cabinet for years, since the era of former governors Godswill Akpabio (2007 -2015) and Udom Emmanuel (2015 -2023),” he added.
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