By John Obi
Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Umo Eno, has issued a stern warning to members of the State Executive Council, threatening to sanction any cabinet member who fails to adhere strictly to official protocols of his engagements.
He warned that officials found wanting would be immediately relieved of their position.
Eno, who gave the marching order during an unscheduled stop at the site of the Judiciary Village in Uyo on Friday, expressed displeasure at the disregard for official procedures by some members of his cabinet.
He said, “That’s like four commissioners and I’ve not found them. Starting today, I (would) like everyone to hear, when they hear that I fired the commissioner in your local government, it is insubordination.
“It is wrong for the governor to go on an appointment if nobody else follows him, my commissioners, special advisors are members of my first 11, and I do not announce where I will go.
“It is mandatory for my commissioners to ensure that they take me back to the office or the lodge because, if I stop by anywhere, there can be issues that will be raised.
“So, the commissioner in charge of that will attend to me. A situation where we go to a place, I leave the place, commissioners take off to what I don’t know. This is a full-time job, and so if any commissioner is busy doing their thing, they are not yet ready to be commissioners.
“I was a commissioner myself, I never left my governor behind. Today is the last day I make this statement, and I’m doing it publicly. Anytime I leave an event, I stop by anywhere, let the commissioner pray that I don’t look for that commissioner. If I look for that commissioner, the commissioner is not there, the commissioner will lose his or her job right there and then.”
He instructed that a memo should be issued to all the commissioners in the state immediately, mandating that no commissioner will go anywhere until they get to his lodge after an event.
According to him, the fact that he is a simple person does not mean that he is an appointed governor, emphasising that he was overwhelmingly elected by the people of Akwa Ibom state.
