Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has vowed to sanction Permanent Secretaries who, according to him, flouted civil service rules and engaged in illegality during the state’s six-month emergency rule.
Naijaonpoint reports that Fubara issued the warning on Friday at the Government House, Port Harcourt, while swearing in a new Permanent Secretary, Austin Ezekiel-Hart.
The governor charged Ezekiel-Hart to remain unwavering in professionalism, uphold civil service values, and shun acts that undermine due process.
Fubara state, “I have decided that this time around I won’t be doing too much of talking. I would like actions to speak for us. This appointment that you got today is because you chose to be a professional.”
He explained that his administration was committed to integrity and would not condone shortcuts in governance.
Reflecting on the period of emergency rule, Fubara lamented that some Permanent Secretaries compromised their duty by supporting actions contrary to civil service standards.
He warned, “For every one of you here, the Permanent Secretaries who were involved in illegality, when I say illegality, I’m not talking of the issue of the emergency rule, it was the situation. But not guiding them to do what is right… Supporting those things that are not the standard of civil service, your punishment will come. Just be prepared.
“It is those things that were not done rightly, those ones that didn’t follow the normal process, and that you were involved in. I feel sorry for you. The records will be there, and at the right time, I’ll bring them up one after the other against you.”
Turning to the new appointee, Fubara praised Ezekiel-Hart’s refusal to compromise despite pressures during the crisis.
He said, “You, the Permanent Secretary, I don’t want to tell them any story about you, but I’m very sure a good number of you know that he stood his ground as a professional. Knowing that you do the right thing, defend your superior. It doesn’t matter, but do it in the right way.”
The governor said Ezekiel-Hart’s steadfastness and principled stance earned him the appointment.
Fubara reminded civil servants that truth, fairness and due process must remain their guiding principles, adding that his government would never compel officers to act outside the law.
“I have never asked anybody, from my commissioners and anyone that has worked with me to please me; I always request that you do the right thing so that posterity will judge you,” he said.
He stressed that no directive, regardless of its source, should override established rules and procedures.
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