Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta has sworn in 12 new Permanent Secretaries and charged them not to gag their subordinates or hinder free flow of ideas.

Okowa, who also swore in the Auditor-General of Local Government on Tuesday in Asaba, said free flow of ideas would ensure proper coordination and growth of the state civil service.

The new permanent secretaries are Dr Jude Winful-Orieke, Mrs Joy Enwa, Mr Blessing Edewor, Mrs Toriseju Ubogu, Mr Anthony Nwokolobia, Mr Bernard Okonta, Ms Ngozi Mogbolu and Dr Israel Ogheneaga.

Others are Mrs Rhoda Osokpo, Mrs Mabel Ekpenisi, Dr Funmilayo Omoraka, Mr Henry Onyeukwu while the auditor-general is Mr Bruno Ebitonmo.

The governor said that the best public officer was the one who received advice from his subordinates and put them to good use.

He warned the permanent secretaries against bullying their directors and other lower grade workers and urged them to allow ideas from them to flow for the good governance of the state.

The governor said there was a lot to learn from everybody so the permanent secretaries should not look down on people.

He stated: “Permanent secretaries play a vital role in the running of the civil service.

“A lot of them have exited the service in the last few months and most times, the spaces are filled from the local government areas where they exited from.

“People have also been elevated to permanent secretaries based on their capacity and competencies”.

Okowa told them that they had been appointed in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

He explained that the permanent secretaries were selected based on required competence, seniority and needed geographical spread.

The governor congratulated the new permanent secretaries, saying “you are very much aware that there is a lot of work for you to do in these trying times.

“Now that you have been appointed, its important that you bring your wealth of experiences to bear in the various ministries you will be posted to.

“You must have a clear understanding of what our vision, agenda and promises to the people are so as to work with us to achieve our goal.

“Set your goals right and work closely with your commissioners, directors and other staff in your various ministries.”

The governor told them to groom other people to step into their position because they would not be there forever.

Okowa charged them to ensure that they were protective of government and spoke the truth to power.

He also urged the auditor-general to work closely with the local governments to ensure proper direction and navigate the difficult times local government councils were facing.

In a vote of thanks, Dr Winful-Orieke, pledged their resolve to continue to support the “Stronger Delta” agenda of the governor.

“We are going to do our best to help achieve the objectives of this administration,” he said. (NAN)