POLITICS
Bello Dissolves State Executive Council, Appoints Accountant-General, others
From Joseph Amedu, Lokoja
Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello has taken a decisive and strategic action on Monday, January 8 by dissolving the State Executive Council.
The statement from Onogwu Muhammed, Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, said the move served as a recalibration of the governance trajectory and signifies the initiation of the comprehensive transition process as the ‘New Direction Administration’ gracefully concludes its tenure.
Heads of agencies, parastatals and other appointees are also affected by the announcement.
While making the announcement at the end of the State Executive Council Meeting on Monday, at the EXCO Hall of the governor’s office, governor Bello commended affected officials for exemplifying unparalleled commitment, diligence, and unwavering patriotism throughout their tenure.
The commendation bestowed upon the outgoing Executive Council members during the session on Monday echoes the governor’s appreciation for their years of dedicated service to the state.
Bello wished them success in their future endeavours, a sentiment extended to all heads of agencies and other appointees whose roles are now concluded.
Government officials affected are instructed to ensure a thorough and proper handover process, transferring all government documents, properties, and materials to the Permanent Secretary of their ministries or senior government officials.
However, the governor retained the following members of the council and aides; the Secretary to the Government, Mrs Ayoade Folashade Arike; PhD, Rtd Navy Commodore Jerry Omodara, State Security Adviser; Hon Sunday Faleke, Deputy Chief of Staff; Alh Oricha Umaru Shaibu, Director-General, Government House Administration; Barr Mohammed Sanni Ibrahim, Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice; Abubakar Bashir Mohammed, Commissioner for Solid Mineral and Natural Resources; Kingsley Olorunfemi Fanwo, Commissioner for Information and Communication.
Others are Commissioner for Rural and Energy Development, Mohammed Ihiezue Abdulmutalib; Commissioner for Finance, Budget and Economic Planning, Asiru Idris Asiwaju; Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Abdulsalam Ozigi Momodu; Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Wemi Jones; State Auditor-General, Yakubu Yusuf Okala; Special Adviser to the Governor (government House Imam), Musa Bashiru Ohu, Special Adviser on Political Matters, Hadi Ametuo.
Others also retained by the governor are; Dr Abdulazeez Adams Adeiza, Personal Physician to the Governor; Onogwu Muhammed, Chief Press Secretary to the governor; Sunday Bamidele Ayenibe, Director- General Protocol; Afolabi Joseph Raji, Special Adviser on Special Duties II; Moses Okezie-Okafor, Director-General; Research and Development, and Ahovi Salami Ibrahim.
Not affected by the dissolution are all domestic staff to the governor and deputy governor including those of their wives.
Similarly, the governor appointed the following persons to fill the vital vacant positions in the state: Habibat Oyiza Tijani, State’s Accountant-General, Abdulrazaq Muhammed, Executive Chairman, State Universal Basic Education Board, Yakubu Siyaka Adabenege, Auditor-General for Local Governments, Kadiri Mohammed Okeji, Special Adviser on Finance, Isah Taofeeq, Director-General, Project Monitoring Agency.
In order to strengthening the security architecture of the State in the area of intelligence and information gathering, governor Bello also appoints the following persons as Security Advisers from all the Federal Constituencies of the State;
Goke Okparison, Zonal Security Adviser, Okene/Ogori Fed Constituency, Mustapha Aliyu Aka’aba, Zonal Security Adviser, Ajaokuta Fed Constituency, Salami Joseph Omuya, Zonal Security Adviser, Adavi/Okehi Fed Constituency, Olorunleke Moses, Zonal Security Adviser, Kabba/Ijumu Fed Constituency, Muhammed Mundi, Zonal Security Adviser, Lokoja/Koton Karfe Fed Constituency.
Others are Pius Kolawole, Zonal Security Adviser, Yagba Fed Constituency, Kabiru Adaji Zonal Security Adviser, Dekina/Bassa Federal Constituency, Ayuba Nana, Zonal Security Adviser, Ankpa Federal Constituency, and Abu Odoma, Zonal Security Adviser, Idah Federal Constituency. These appointments take effect immediately.
Bello charged the newly appointed officials with a clarion call for total commitment, unwavering patriotism, and steadfast dedication in the discharge of their duties.
The governor added that efficiency, competence, and the relentless pursuit of progress must be prioritised.
The Abia Chapter of the INEC Staff Welfare Association (ISWA) has warned its members to uphold the integrity of the commission and guard against the culture of manipulating election results.
The Abia Chairman of the association, Mr Collins Eze, gave the advice at the group’s general meeting and end-of-year party in Umuahia.
Speaking in an interview with newsmen on the sideline of the ceremony, Eze said that the staff members were adequately aware of their enormous responsibility and should ensure free, fair and credible elections.
He said: “We have also told our colleagues that anywhere they find themselves they should make sure that they do the needful by ensuring transparency in the conduct of elections.
“We have always told them not to allow anybody to induce them with money to manipulate election results.
“I’m happy that they have been building the capacity of our colleagues on election processes.
“So, in the coming years, we won’t have any problem in ensuring free, fair and peaceful elections.”
He said that the end-of-year party was special as it afforded them the opportunity “to wine and dine together as well as thank God for sustaining them in 2024”.
Eze said that his leadership had introduced various means of assisting members in dire financial needs by providing platforms to solicit suppory for them.
He expressed gratitude to members for their support and cooperation, describing them as the “secret behind the success of this administration”.
He said that 34 of at least 350 staff members of the commission in the state retired from service in 2024.
According to him, the development has placed a huge financial burden on the association, in terms of their welfare and entitlement as members.
Report says that each member received a carton of tomato paste as Christmas gift from the association. (NAN)
A chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Osita Okechukwu, has told the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to be thankful to God that its 16-year administration was not probed by the successive APC-led governments.Okechukwu stated this on Tuesday in Abuja, while reacting to a statement by PDP congratulating Ghanaians for the conduct of free, fair and transparent general elections.
Report says that PDP had, in a statement, said that the verdict of the people of Ghana in the presidential election was a signal to the APC that its days were numbered. The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, had said in the statement that the power of the people in Nigeria, just like in Ghana, would ‘surely prevail and end the APC’s oppressive rule’.This, he said, would “return Nigeria to the path of good governance, security, political stability and economic prosperity on the platform of the PDP in 2027.”However, in his reactions to Ologunagba’s statement, Okechukwu said that the PDP clan should thank God that former President Muhammadu Buhari and President Bola Tinubu, out of sheer statesmanship, had refused to probe ‘the 16 locus years of PDP administrations’.Okechukwu, a former Director-General of Voice of Nigeria (VON), described the 16 years of PDP administrations as ones full of squandering and lack of plan.He said that Nigeria had yet to recover from the humongous culture of impunity and trust deficit planted by PDP on the Nigerian soil.Okechukwu said corruption was among the culture of impunity, saying it governed the privatisation of Nigeria’s electricity value chain, a key element in the country’s industrialisation drive.“Another is the blatant rigging of the 2007 general elections which the foremost beneficiary, President Umaru Yar’Adua, out of good conscience and noble magnanimity, publicly acknowledged the malfeasance which characterised his victory,” he said.Okechukwu also mentioned what he called conscienceless sale of the legislative and ministerial quarters, the annual rentage of which, he said, was bleeding the country’s treasury.“Another one is the neglect of $23 billion Greenfield Refinery, which could have saved over $70 billion expended on importation of refined petroleum products and which simulated the economic hardship of today,” he said.On why, for nine years, the APC administration could not fix those challenges, he recalled the efforts made by the Buhari administration to reopen talks on the Greenfield Refinery which, according to him, the Chinese regrettably rebuffed.The former VON director-general said that Nigerians were not in a hurry to forget the deliberate breach of the rotational convention of president from the north to the south.He said that the country could not also forget the utter disregard for Section 7 of the PDP’s constitution which expressly mandated zoning.Okechukwu advised the PDP not to insult the sensibilities of Nigerians by assuming that citizens would easily forget how they were put in the harms way.He said that PDP should thank God that Buhari and Tinubu did not want to probe them, adding “that’s why Nigerians cannot decipher the difference between the two political parties.” (NAN)
Sen. Ned Nwoko (PDP-Delta) says that Local Government Administration is central to democracy in Nigeria as it ensures grassroots governance and service delivery at the local level.This is contained in a statement signed by Dr Michael Nwoko, the Chief of Staff to the lawmaker in Abuja on Monday.Nwoko said this on the occasion of the presentation of an award “Icon of Hope” to him by the Association of Local Government Vice Chairmen of Nigeria (ALGOVC).
He was represented by his Chief of Staff. He said that the importance of local government administration in the country could not be overemphasised, as it was the bedrock of democracy.According to him, local governments in Nigeria play key roles in the country’s democracy by promoting participatory democracy, providing services, and representing citizens.“Local Governments help determine local needs and how to meet them. They also act as a link between the centre, state, and local people.“They are created to decentralise power and bring the government closer to the people. They perform both mandatory and concurrent functions.“It is in view of this that I took it upon myself to enhance the viability of local governments through the Paris and London club loan refunds,”he said.Dr Folashade Olabanji-Oba, ALGOVC National Chairman, while presenting the award at its 7th Annual National Conference, said the award was in recognition of the lawmaker’s significant contributions to strengthening local government administration.She highlighted Nwoko’s critical role in ensuring the Paris and London Club loan refunds, a financial breakthrough she said enhanced the capacity of local governments nationwide.(NAN)
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