By Our Correspondent
A pressure group, Delta Prosperity Initiative, has lambasted Governor of Delta State, Senator Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa over the continued suspension of members of the State Civil Service Commission, including the Chairman, describing the action as unfair and a rape of injustice.
In a press statement entitled “For Justice and Equity, The Other Side Should Be Heard” and signed by the Chairman, Elder Amake Eke, the group wondered the rationale behind the suspension of the board members even when their side of the story was never heard.
According to the group, the coming of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa ought to have heralded the beginning of a new dawn for the state, but lamented that the reverse was the case as they alleged that the Governor has refused to borrow a leaf from President Muhammadu Buhari that is making waves worldwide.
“The coming of Governor Okowa to Delta State should be heralded as a blessing to Deltans judging by his qualification as an academician, a former State Commissioner, a former State SSG, and a former Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” the group stated.
The group added; “But somehow since coming on board as the elected Governor of Delta state, one is asking question whether this is the real Dr. Okowa, the esteemed commissioner and Secretary to the State Governor, or eloquent charismatic Senator who could rightly be a potential presidential candidate.”
While faulting the rationale behind the suspension, the group held that the Governor had not done any investigation before he ordered the suspension of members of the Commission, knowing fully well that the immediate past Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan had suspended the members four days to his departure from office.
The group lamented that the Chairman and members of the commission are suffering in silence since they were not given the opportunity to defend themselves two months after they were suspended, stressing that it was a violation of their fundamental human rights as enshrined in the Nigerian constitution.
“The suspension order is now two (2) months old with salaries and allowances stopped, is this not detention without trial? Is justice delayed not justice denied? In the name of justice and equity, set the oppressed free,” the group said.
According to the statement: “Was there any panel of investigation set up and made public to which the accused (Chairman and members) were invited to be heard and defend themselves? Was there any query? Is it fair for government to be complainant, prosecutor and judge at the same time?
The group asked what was faulty about the recruitment exercise as claimed by Governor Okowa, saying “Is Governor Okowa not aware that the recruitment officer in the Civil Service Commission was conscripted to Government House to issue letters of appointment thereby overshooting the approved number of 989 candidates to 1,300 candidates? How will the government be reluctant to absorb 968 civil servants but at the same time advertising to employ six thousand (6,000) persons into the same state?
It would be recalled that the immediate past Governor of the state, Dr. Emmanuel Ewetan Uduaghan suspended the chairman and members of the civil service commission four days before his exit from office after he had approved the recruitment of 986 persons into the state Civil Service Commission in December 2013.
