Reinstated Rivers permanent secretaries resume without offices

The eight permanent secretaries who were sacked by Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, but reinstated by the National Industrial Court (NIC) in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, have resumed work.

The senior civil servants, who were sighted at the state secretariat yesterday, however, confirmed that they have not yet been assigned any offices.

One of them, Samuel Okeya, said they would continue to go to work whether or not they were assigned any offices until the state government allocated them portfolios.

He, however, expressed the hope that the state government would do so without further delay.

The Rivers State Government had in 2015, sacked eight permanent secretaries, including the state’s Head of Service and the Accountant General.

But the permanent secretaries, who were dissatisfied with the action, approached the NIC, praying the court to declare the action unconstitutional.

Ruling on the matter, the presiding judge, Bashar Alkali, held that the state government overstepped its constitutional boundaries by treating civil servants like political appointees and ordered their reinstatement.

However, The Guardian learned that two weeks after the court ruling, the state government had not made any moves to reassign offices to them, as their earlier offices have been allocated to other officials.