Okowa Goes After Uduaghan’s Men In Government, Sacks Man Officials

The seeming political feud between the Delta State Governor, Mr. Ifeanyi Okowa, and his predecessor, Mr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, has taken a new dimension. Okowa is said to be after all government personnel loyal to Uduaghan.

In the State that produced Okowa as the Party flag bearer, the relationship existing between Okowa and Uduaghan went sour prior to the last Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship primaries.

Before the primaries, Okowa was said to have vowed to get back at all Uduagjan’s loyalists in government who have in one way or the other worked against his emergence as the Party flag bearer.

The first to receive Okowa’s sledge hammer was the Director General, of the Direct Labour Agency (DLA), Mr. Emmanuel Odafe Igbini. He was sacked last week by Okowa.

Okowa has threatened to retrench staff of the agency and instructed that the agency be fully commercialised.

A staff member of the agency who confided in Flagnews stated that the DG’s sack has no justifiable reasons other than been Uduaghan’s ally.

The staff who pleaded for anonymity, disclosed that during a meeting between the management of the agency and the Governor held on Monday. Governor Okowa who was furious with no just cause threatened the retrenchment of staff of the agency and directed that henceforth staff should go out and canvass for jobs as his government will no longer be interested in the agency.

“At our our Monday meeting with the Governor, it was something else, come and see how the governor was so very angry at us during the meeting. Immediately he asked of the workers strength and human resource manager told him our strength, he flared up and threatened that nothing will stop him from carrying out retrenchment on the agency. There and then we knew that the over overzealous former director, Akpobire has told all kind of lies to the governor so that he can be appointed as the new DG of the agency.” the informant said.

According to a senior management staff at the meeting, “Okowa is out for Uduaghan’s men in government, especially those at the helm of affairs of various agencies and boards of parastatals so that he can plant his loyalists. Okowa is only out for victimisation, he is out for political vendetta. Because he knows if he sacks only the DG several meanings will be read into it and he decided to sack the entire board so as to plant one of his loyalists and former director  in the agency one Mr. Michael Akpobire as the DG.”

“Akpobire is a core Okowa loyalist who has always fought the sacked DG as well as instigating staff of the agency against the then DG. Come and see unprintable words and foul language been used on the sacked DG and other senior management of the agency by Governor Okowa during our meeting with him on Monday.” the staff stated.

It was reliably learned that in the Monday meeting between Governor Okowa and the management of the agency, Okowa threatened to direct the State Commissioner of Police to arrest the sacked DG should he fail to see him on or before Thursday this week.

“I doubt if Okowa can make a good Governor, though, Uduaghan is bad but we wonder if at the end of the day Okowa can be rated as one of the best Governors ever had in Delta State with the way he started shortly after his assumption in office. Delta State is beyond politics of vendetta. During our meeting with him, when one of the staff of the agency stood up during introduction and introduced himself as the communication manager of the agency, you need to see how this man we call our governor flared up again, saying who gave the man the guts to introduce himself as the agency communication manager. Immediately he directed that that department and other departments in the agency be scrapped,” a source at the meeting hinted.

Flagnews learned that, out of anger, Okowa, during the meeting, directed the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mr. Festus Ovie Agas, who was in attendance to prepare a memo for the immediate dissolution of all the State government agencies and boards of parastatals to pave way for the appointment of his loyalists who suffered with him in the trenches prior to the PDP governorship primaries.

Following recent appointments made into his media team and other offices, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa has been accused of been a clannish Governor.

In obedience to the Governor’s orders barely 48 hours after, the SSG, Mr. Agas issued a statement dissolving some of the State government agencies and boards of parastatals leaving the Board of Internal Revenue, Civil service, DESOPADEC among few others.

In another development, following recent appointments made into his media team and other offices, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa has been accused of been a clannish governor.

Recall that last week Governor Okowa announced the appointment of his kinsmen to oversee his media department in the government house which stakeholders have described as clannish and causing ripples among Deltans.

In the appointments made, Okowa has his kinsmen from his Ika axis as Director of Protocol, Communications Manager, Press Secretary (Print media), Press Secretary (Community newspapers), Press Secretary (Electronics media), and other Special Assistants. These appointments are generating mixed feelings in the State.

According to a government house source, “Okowa’s clannish action has been described by some key political and media figures from both the Delta Central and South senatorial zones as a disappointment. Unlike the previous administration of Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan who spread portfolios across board, this Delta North dominance of key Government House portfolios represents the three senatorial districts of the State,” the source stated.