By Udo Akam-Alo, ABAKALIKI
Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State, Saturday directed all Education Secretaries in the 13 Local Government Areas of the State to proceed on compulsory leave with immediate effect.
Prompt News recalls that the Governor, five days ago dissolved the Secondary Education Board, as a result of the fraudulent practices discovered in the administration and management of the Board in the State.
Umahi through a statement issued by the Secretary to the State Government, SSG, Dr. Kenneth Ugbala states:
“His Excellency, the Governor of Ebonyi State, Engr. Dr. David Nweze Umahi, FNSE, FNATE, has approved the dissolution of the Secondary Education Board (SEB), Ebonyi State with immediate effect.
“The dissolution is as a result of the fraudulent practices discovered in the administration and management of the Board, where dead persons, persons who have resigned and those that have secured employments in other places, are still in the payroll of the Board and to the full knowledge of some members of the Board.
“Consequently, the Chairman and members of the dissolved Board are directed to handover all government property in their possessions to the Secretary to the State Government and Coordinating Commissioner before the close of work on Tuesday 23rd March, 2021.
“In a similar vein, and in the effort to restore sanity in the Board, Government hereby directs the immediate redeployment of all Heads of Departments of the Board to other MDAs. A committee has been set up to conduct a comprehensive and thorough staff audit in the Board and submit report for further necessary action.”
Concerning the issue on the Education Secretaries in the 13 LGAs, the Governor through Hyacinth Ekuma Ikpor, Executive Chairman, Ebonyi State Universal Basic Education Board, directed all the affected Education Secretaries to handover all official documents and property in their possession with an immediate compliance while he said.
“All the Education Secretaries of the 13 Local Government Education Authority in Ebonyi State are hereby directed to proceed on compulsory leave with immediate effect.
“They are also directed to handover all official documents and property in their possession to the Heads of Personal Management (HPM) of their respective Local Education Authority.
“Immediate compliance is advised.”