By Damilare Adeleye
Governor Francis Nwifuru of Ebonyi State has suspended two commissioners from his cabinet over cases of alleged gross misconduct and dereliction of duties.
This was made known on Tuesday in a press statement released by the state Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Jude Chikadibia-Okpor.
Governor Nwifuru directed the indefinite suspension of the Commissioner for Housing and Urban Development, Engineer Francis Ori, and a three-month suspension for his counterpart Dr. Moses Ekuma, the Commissioner for Health and Social Development.
Governor also directed some civil servants to to proceed on a three-month suspension.
They include the permanent secretary of the ministry of health, executive secretaries of the state primary healthcare development agency and state health insurance agency.
Meanwhile, in view of this development, the Special Assistant to the Governor on Primary Health has been directed to take charge of the Ministry of Health in the absence of the suspended commissioner.
According to Okpor, the suspended officials are directed to hand over all government properties in their possession, including vehicles to the State Secretary of the Government on or before the close of work on Monday, November 25, 2024.
It was recalled that Governor Nwifuru had earlier suspended indefinitely the Commissioner for Water Resources, Chinedum Nkah for dereliction of duties, stressing that his administration is committed to the people’s charter of needs.