Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State has appointed the wife of President Goodluck Jonathan, Dame Patience Jonathan, as one of the seventeen new Permanent Secretaries in the state civil service.
Patience Jonathan, according to a statement from the
Office of the Head of Service, Mrs. Gloria Izonfo, on Wednesday, was
appointed alongside 16 senior civil servants. The statement was read on
the state radio.
“By the constitutional power conferred on the state
governor, Hon. Seriake Dickson, in section 203 sub-section 2c, Dame
Patience Jonathan and seventeen others have been elevated to the
position of Permanent Secretary in the state civil service,” Izonfo
said.
Our correspondent, however, reports that the
appointment has stirred a controversy in the state with some Bayelsans
expressing misgivings about the appointment.
The other seventeen permanent secretaries are: Mr.
J.E. Oye, Samson Ayibeboa, Mrs. Antonia Koroye, Ziwari Billie,
Buruboyefa John, Dikuro Ayebameh, Serge Williams, Olu Kuruom, G.I.Izein,
Mrs.Philomena Alodie, Dr. Omietimi Kojo, Ese Izonebi, Ohougha Maythias,
James Clinton, Mrs. Linnet Tebepah, Moses Teibowei, Dr. A. Sanayi and
Vivian Odiwei.
Patience Jonathan, a native of Okrika in Rivers
State, had served in the Rivers and Bayelsa states civil services before
her husband’s election as deputy governor. However, our reporter
couldn’t confirm if she had been due for appointment as permanent
secretary before her husband’s first election.
The wife of the President has a National Certificate
of Education in Mathematics/Biology, which she obtained in 1989 from the
Rivers State College of Education. She also has a degree in Biology and
Psychology (Education) from the University of Port Harcourt, Rivers
State.
Contacted, the Senior Special Assistant to Governor
Seriake, on Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Mackson Iworiso, confirmed the
appointment, adding that the development was a ‘routine action’ in the
civil service.
Culled from Punch Newspaper.
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