Drama as Umahi shuts out 17 commissioners, 13 LG chairmen….Suspends salaries over lateness

There was drama yesterday when Governor Dave Umahi shut out over 17 commissioners, 13 Caretaker Committee chairmen, 64 coordinators of development centres and principal officers of Ebonyi State Government for coming late to a state event.
The governor also suspended their salaries.
Umahi arrived the Akanu Ibiam International Conference Centre, Abakaliki, venue of the state Inter-school debate organised by the Ministry of Education only to discover that only two commissioners out of 19 were seated in the hall.
He immediately requested for the manifest of the day’s programme, and  ordered that all entrances into the hall be shut before ordering the Head of Service to take a roll call of state functionaries at the event.
He also ordered the Commissioner for Finance, Denis Ekuma Nkama to suspend October salaries of the affected government officials.
Trouble started for the affected government officials when the governor arrived at exactly 11a.m. only to discover that the hall was empty and ordered that disciplinary actions should be taken against them
Some commissioners it was observed, who arrived shortly after the governor were stranded at the entrance while some of them that tried to smuggle themselves through the windows were ordered to be thrown out by security details attached to the governor.
One of the highly respected commissioners of Governor Umahi, who had gained entry into the hall after the order was made was not lucky as the governor sighted him and ordered his Special Adviser on Security, Ali Odefa, to throw him out of the hall.
Meanwhile, the affected 13 local government chairmen, who were said to have gone for the Joint Allocation Committee, JAC meeting, being their first since inauguration were not lucky as the order of the governor affected them too.
Prominent among top government officials affected by the suspension  order included the Deputy Chief of Staff, Prof Fidelis Okpata, the Principal Staff, PS to the governor, Clement Nweke, 17 commissioners, 12 Special Advisers, 13 local government chairmen and 64 coordinators of development centres and heads of boards and commissions.

The Sun