Wike Swears In Nine Commissioners-Designate, Today … As 17 New Perm Secs Take Oath Of Office

The Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike will, today, at the Government House, Port Harcourt, swear-in nine commissioners-designate screened and cleared, yesterday, by the Rivers State House of Assembly.
The state Commissioner for Information and Communications, Pastor Paulinus Nsirim, who gave this indication in a statement in Port Harcourt, yesterday, added that the swearing-in ceremony will begin at 11am, and advised those affected and invited guests to be seated by 10.30am.
He noted that those to be sworn-in include, Barrister Eloka Tasie-Amadi, Hon Boma Iyaye, Hon Diamete Herbert-Miller, Tonye Oniyinde and Dr Tamunosisi Gogo-Jaja.
The rest are, Dr Igbiks Tamuno, Hon Emeka Onowu, Prof Chike Princewill, and Mr Ohia Prince.
When sworn-in today, the nine public officers will join 15 others earlier appointed by the state governor to boost the number of cabinet members to drive the implementation of the NEW Vision Agenda of the Governor Nyesom Wike administration in the state.
Earlier, after grilling the six commissioner-nominees sent to it for screening by the governor, the state House of Assembly, yesterday, finally confirmed them for swearing-in.
Two of the commissioner-nominees: Dr. Tamunosisi Gogo-Jaja and Hon. Boma Iyaye were asked to take a bow after they introduced themselves as former legislators.
However, Mrs. Tonye Briggs-Oniyinde, Hon. Damiete Herbert Miller, Emeka Onowu, Barrister Eloka Tasie-Amadi, Ohia Prince and Dr. Igbiks Tamuno were subjected to some questioning by the legislators.
Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Ikuinyi-Owaji Ibani said the screening was in line with Section 192 of the 1999 Constitution as amended.
Oniyinde while responding to questions from Hon. Smart Adoki over her performance as erstwhile commissioner for culture and tourism, noted that during her first tenure, the state hosted NAFEST 2018 with other cultural activities in the state.
Herbert Miller, who was former commissioner for energy, said most of the challenges in the ministry were because energy was in Exclusive List and his ministry only had to enforce safety standards while creating synergy with federal agencies.
Tasie-Amadi, who was former member of the state Task Force on Recovery of Government Property, pledged to serve the state and add value to governance.
Also responding on how he could assist in youth empowerment, Ohia was of the opinion that agriculture and entrepreneurship were key to providing jobs.
He insisted that once government sets the youths up in small business, there was need to monitor them so as to motivate them to improve and utilise the starter-packs for their betterment.
However, Princewill and Tamuno, who are only the two medical experts among the nominees, suggested measures to tackle the Coronavirus scourge.
Princewill, who was the last commissioner for health, opined that there was no need for panic.
He suggested that all that was needed was to beef up monitoring at the entry and exit points of the state.
Princewill also recommended a “State Holding Up Area” so that in case of any contamination, it could be easy to trace contacts.
For Tamuno, preventive medicine remains key.
Tamuno, who is a pharmacologist, said medication and prevention were the way to keeping the virus away from attacking the populace.
Similarly, in a move to re-invigorate the Civil Service of Rivers State, Governor Nyesom Wike, yesterday, swore-in 17 new permanent secretaries.
Swearing-in the permanent secretaries at the Government House, Port Harcourt, the governor urged them to contribute to the rapid development of Rivers State.
He said: “Use this opportunity to contribute to the development of the state. You were appointed under this administration; you owe the state the responsibility to perform”.
Wike said that the new permanent secretaries should be focused on service delivery.
“Your interest should be to serve the state and to support the commissioners, who are political heads to achieve the right developmental goals.
“Don’t give your commissioners problems. Also, do not collude with the commissioners to carry out illegal activities”, he said.
The governor urged the new permanent secretaries to work in line with their oath of office, adding that anyone that violates their oath of office would be sanctioned.
He said: “I advise you to take your work seriously. Don’t take this opportunity as a joke.”
He stated that effort was made to ensure that local government areas without permanent secretaries were accommodated by his administration.
The governor said that the new permanent secretaries were appointed on the basis of merit, and noted that nobody lobbied for their emergence.
Wike announced the posting of Madume Egerton Ndu as the new solicitor-general and permanent secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Justice, and added that other permanent secretaries would be posted shortly by his administration.