Governor Francis Nwifuru has suspended three Commissioners for one month for being absent from the state executive council meeting.

Briefing journalists after the state executive meeting on Tuesday in Abakaliki, the state Commissioner for Information and State Orientation, Jude Okpor, said that the suspended Commissioners were Solomon Azi (Grants and Donor Agencies), Rt. Hon. Victor Chukwu (Environment), and Ikeuwa Omebe (Rural Development).

He noted that the governor directed that the suspended Commissioners be relieved of all the privileges attached to their offices within the duration of the suspension.

Okpor added that Nwifuru announced the admission into the prestigious Ebonyi State Honour Awardees and a ₦5 million reward for three victorious EBSU Faculty of Law team members—Michael Agu-Ebeke, Ibor Cynthia Nwamaka, and their guardian, Dr Chioma Vivian Iteshi—who represented Nigeria at the 33rd Christof Heyns African Moot Court Competition held in Kigali, Rwanda, in 2024.

Nwifuru thanked them for making the state and country proud, noting that the Ebonyi State University team emerged victorious, defeating 68 Anglophone and 15 Francophone teams in a keenly contested battle of legal knowledge, thereby becoming the first Nigerian Faculty of Law to do so in 33 years

The Commissioner noted that before the business of the day, Nwifuru appreciated the resilience and commitment of council members to their duties, urging them to redouble their efforts. He warned against absenteeism and a lackadaisical attitude to work among public servants in the state.

He further stated that the governor warned all contractors handling government projects in the state to expedite efforts in delivering such projects in accordance with contractual agreements, adding that the government would not hesitate to use all legal means to enforce compliance.

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He noted that the Council approved the execution of the following projects: staff quarters, a female hostel, and a health clinic at the NYSC Orientation Camp in Afikpo, in line with the Renewed Hope initiative of the President Bola Tinubu-led administration to provide a conducive environment for both staff and corps members of the scheme.

The Commissioner said, “The Council approved the sum of forty million naira (₦40,000,000) for the construction of a central store for the Ministry of Water Resources, emphasizing the need to protect the Ministry’s equipment and consumables.

“Recall that EXCO had earlier approved the redesign and completion of the Ebonyi Trade Centre, Presco. As a prelude to the foregoing, the EXCO of today, 17 March 2025, resolved to conduct an integrity test on the building to ascertain its present structural status. The result of this test will determine the government’s next line of action.

“Arising from the earlier directive to the three members of the council—Hon. Commissioners for Commerce, Industry and Business Development, Trade and Investment, and Skill Development and Job Creation—to commence the clearing of the six-hectare Industrial City site at Ezzamgbo, EXCO approved the execution of the project through direct labor, which is to be flagged off on Wednesday, 19th March 2025.

“In furtherance of the above, an inter-ministerial committee headed by Her Excellency, Princess Patricia Onyemaechi Obila, was constituted to oversee its execution.”