By Felix Ekwu
Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State has changed his style of first performing the official swearing-in of Commissioners into the State Executive Council and informing them hours later of their individual portfolios by letters of appointment from the office of the Secretary to the State Government, SSG.
That has been the tradition of Okowa since becoming governor in 2015, until about a month ago when he changed ‘gear’ during the swearing-in of four commissioners, Hon Samuel Mariere, Olorogun Sunday Onoriode, Chief Mike Okah and Mr Godspower Asiuwhu.
Today Tuesday, August 2, 2022, the governor also publicly announced the portfolios of the five new commissioners he inaugurated at the Unity Hall of Government House, Asaba.
This new approach by Okowa is similar to that of former Governor James Ibori when he held sway from 1999 to 2007
The five new commissioners that were sworn in on Tuesday and their portfolios are as follows: Dr Kingsley Ashibogwu – Higher Education; Dr Darlington Ijeh – Human and Community Development; Dr Godfrey Enita – Agriculture; Chief Anthony Ofoni – Project Monitoring and Audit and Mrs Nkechi Enumah-Chukwura – Girl-Child Entrepreneurship Development.
A major twist during the ceremony was when the governor announced Dr Kingsley Ashibogwu as the new Commissioner for Higher Education when it was not yet in the public domain that Prof Patrick Muoboghare, who was hitherto occupying the position had resigned and had been sacked.
It was a big puzzle for many who attended the ceremony as they left the venue wondering what may have happened, until hours later when it became public that Prof Muoboghare had exited the Okowa administration.
Governor Okowa during the ceremony congratulated the commissioners on their appointments urging them to justify the confidence reposed in them, especially at this critical period when the administration had entered the last lap of its term.
