Governor Henry Seriake Dickson has started disengaging his political appointees ahead February 14, 2020 handover date when Governor-Elect, David Lyon is expected to take over the reins of government.
A government special announcement signed by the Secretary to the State Government, Kemela Okara monitored in Yenagoa on Monday, said “only political appointees whose positions are critical to the transition process will be retained henceforth to manage this process”.
The statement has sparked speculations that Governor Dickson has sacked his political appointees especially as the announcement did not specify those critical to the transition process.
Aside that, there is also the growing fear among appointees that some of them might be denied their benefits as the government is set to compile the list of those “who are by law entitled to receive benefits, with a view to making payment before government winds down in February 2020”.
Dickson had appointed a huge number of Bayelsans from across all the eight local government areas of the state in the run up to the November 16 governorship election which was won by the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC).
Over 60 special advisers were appointed in one ceremony and none of them was given any specific office a week to the election while a commissioner and Acting Head of Service were appointed after the election.
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At the time, it was believed that the appointments were politically motivated and only aimed at winning the governorship election with several stakeholders holding the view that they would be sacked once the mission was accomplished.
It is believed that the government’s special announcement coming less than two months to the official handover date and many of the appointees not having spent quite two months in their positions has confirmed the view of stakeholders.
Some appointees are confused at the announcement and are trying to confirm their status with the government promising to sort out their salaries after paying civil servants their salaries, which Okara described as a priority.
Government urged the appointees to appreciate the enormous sacrifices the government has made for them since 2012 saying “We trust that all political appointees appreciate the enormous sacrifices Government has made with the unprecedented number of political appointments made from 2012 to date.”
The announcement, however, said Dickson used the medium to thank all political appointees for their hard work and commitment to the restoration agenda over the years and during the transition period.
