The Governor of Ebonyi State, Rt. Hon. Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru, has sworn-in the two Senior Special Assistants and nineteen Special Assistants recently appointed by his administration.
Out of the 21 appointees sworn-in on Friday by Governor Nwifuru, only about six were given portfolios.
They are to function in areas such as media, documentation, education and health.
The rest were Assistants in charge of security across the 13 Local Government Areas of the State and some critical infrastructures.
Apart from announcing his Chief Press Secretary few hours after his inauguration on May 29, the SSAs and the SAs are the first and only set of appointments so far made by the Governor.
There have been mounting expectations from Ebonyi people that Nwifuru ought to have named his key appointees such as the Secretary to State Government, Chief of Staff and Principal Secretary.
Addressing the stakeholders shortly after the oath ceremony at the Executive Council Chambers, Government House, Abakaliki, Governor Nwifuru asked them to exercise more patience with him as he carefully packages his team for the best interest of the State.
He acknowledged that the new administration was faced with some usual challenges and conflicts of interest, especially in the area of security, but assured that all would soon be surmounted.
He explained: “I am very much delighted this afternoon.
“And in doing that, I tender unreserved apology for the shortcomings and delay in swearing in the distinguished appointees which supposed to have taken place before now.
“It is due to some exigencies of the office.
“Distinguished leaders, I am aware of all the challenges, and like I said during my inaugural address, we are very much equipped to surmount all the challenges.
“I am so delighted to all of you for your patience, and I still solicit for more patience as we do everything within our reach to put everything, all the segments in place.
“In no distant time, all the sectors of government will be fully equipped to perform optimally.
“So, I still need your patience.
“We have been confronted with a lot of challenges and we are very much sure that with the kind of leaders that we called to help us in discharging those enormous challenges, that within one or two weeks, all these insecurity issues will be a thing of the past.”
Addressing the sworn in Special Assistants on Security, the Governor noted that their core mandate was to give information to the law enforcement agencies.
Nwifuru added: “We are not giving them guns, we are not charging them to go and confront them.
“The only job they have is to give us and the law enforcement agencies the information.
“And from today, if we record any insecurity, killing anywhere in this State, not only that we will arrest the SA in charge, but we will prosecute him.
“You have taken up a very challenging job.”
The Governor further charged them to be more faithful and diligent in discharging their duties.
In an acceptance speech, one of the appointees, the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Security, Izzi Local Government Area, Felix Okemini, on behalf of the others, appreciated the Governor for finding them fit for the very important job.
Okemini pledged the commitment of the appointees to security of lives and property in the State, adding that they would perform within the confines of their mandate as Special Assistants to the Governor.
Among those sworn in were Nwifuru’s Chief Press Secretary as former Speaker of Ebonyi State House of Assembly, Leonard Oketa; and a former journalist with Ebonyi State Broadcasting Corporation, Dr. Boniface Nwankwo.
While Oketa was sworn in as SA on New Media, Nwankwo was designated as SA on Documentation.
The event attracted stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress from across the State.
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