Governor Francis Nwifuru has suspended three commissioners for one month over absenteeism from state executive council meeting. Briefing journalists after the state executive meeting, yesterday, in Abakaliki, the Commissioner for Information and State Orientation, Jude Okpor, said that the suspended commissioners were the Commissioner for Grants and Donor Agencies, Solomon Azi, the Commissioner for Environment, Victor Chukwu, and the Commissioner for Rural Development, Ikeuwa Omebe.
    
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 of three victorious Ebonyi State University (EBSU) Faculty of Law Team comprising 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. He added that the state government also appreciated them with N5 million each.  
    
Nwifuru thanked them for making the state and country happy, noting that the Ebonyi State University team emerged victorious defeating 68 other 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 members of the council to their duties, urging them to redouble their efforts and warning against absenteeism and lackadaisical attitude to work among state public servants.
AGAIN, barely one day after Nwifuru suspended the Commissioners, the governor, yesterday, sacked two of his two aides over gross misconduct.
     
The two sacked aides were his Senior Special Assistant on Security in Ebonyi North, Mr. Felix Okemini, popularly known as Jango and his Special Assistant on Airport Security, Mr. Nnanna Nwangele.
   
 The sack was announced by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Grace Umezurike, warning them to steer away from the government house.  Umezurike said the governor approved the dismissal of his two aides following their act of gross misconduct.

IN another development, the Cross River State House of Assembly has summoned the Commissioner for Environment, Mr. Moses Osogi, and the Chairman of the state Internal Revenue Service, Mr. Edwin Okon, to appear before it to offer an explanation over allegation of illegal and unauthorised levies.  
     
This is part of resolutions adopted by the Assembly following a matter of Urgent Public Importance brought before the House by the member representing Akamkpa 1 State Constituency, Okon Nyong Owuna.
   
In his presentation, Owuna stated that the state Ministry of Environment had engaged revenue consultants to illegally collect revenue  called CRS evacuation permit from trucks hauling granite aggregate from quarries in Akamkpa 1 State Constituency.” 
      
He condemned the imposition and collection of illegal and unauthorised levies captioned, “Evacuation Permit,” from trucks hauling granite from quarries in Akamkpa 1 State Constituency.