“I prematurely removed a permanent secretary of the civil service from Ebonyi because the official could not calculate the tips of the civil service,” Gov. David Umahi said Tuesday in Abakaliki.
Mr. Umahi made the statement while swearing in the new permanent secretaries and members of the state Anti-Corruption and Public Complaints Commission.
“The lieutenant governor asked me to reverse the decision, but I refused, and that will be his first request that I have not agreed to in the eight years that he has been lieutenant governor. You can still give me the elements that make up the tip even if you don’t know how to calculate it,” said the governor of Ebonyi.
However, Umahi said he could reverse the decision and urged newly sworn officials to do a lot of reading.
The governor pointed out that the issue of free public servants in Ebonyi was worrying. According to him, the permanent secretaries in Ebonyi are among the best in the country.
He urged them to uphold the standard.
“We have raised a bar at Ebonyi that makes us compete with the best in the world. Anyone who does not meet the standard will be asked whether or not they come from Ebonyi,” added Mr. Umahi. “Set tests for yourselves on performance because Ebonyi shouldn’t be your limit on exposure and competition.”
He explained that the theory that “helped me, that should help them too, is to regard public duties or services as their personal business.”
The governor emphasized that he diligently studied the Israelis and that helped him achieve engineering proficiency.
“I received tutoring in an Israeli company in 1987 with a monthly salary of N650. I listened to my mentors and even though I only have a first degree in engineering, I can debate favorably with a professor in the field,” he said.
(YAYA)
