Dickson sacks political appointees as govt winds down – TheNigerialawyer

Bayelsa State governor, Mr Seriake Dickson, has disengaged
political appointees in his administration whose positions are not
relevant to the ongoing transition process in the state.

According to a statement on Monday by the Secretary to the State
Government, Mr Kemela Okara, only political appointees whose
positions were “critical” to the transition process would be
retained.

Okara, who did not state the number of affected political
appointees, said the governor’s decision was necessitated by the
fact that “as a government in transition, we are battling to meet
our diverse financial obligations.”

He explained that in trying to manage the financial obligations,
it had become imperative for the administration to give priority to
the payment of salaries to civil servants who had since been paid
their November salaries.

Okara said, “With effectively one month to go to the end of this
government, only political appointees whose positions are critical
to the transition process will be retained henceforth to manage
this process.

“We trust that all political appointees appreciate the enormous
sacrifices government has made with the unprecedented number of
political appointments made from 2012 to date.

“In the interim, we wish to also state that the government has
begun the process of compiling the list of appointees who are by
law entitled to receive benefits, with a view to making payment
before government finally winds down in February 2020.”

The statement enjoined the political appointees and supporters
to “hope for the best post-election outcome, going forward.”