Swearing-In of Commissioners

Your Excellency, Deaconess Tobore Oborevwori;

Your Excellency, Sir Monday Onyeme, the Deputy Governor, and Your dear wife, Her Excellency Mrs. Cathrine Onyeme;

Your Excellency, Dr. Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan CON, the former Governor of the State, and Your wife, Her Excellency Mrs. Roli Uduaghan;

Your Excellencies, former Deputy Governors here present;

Members of the National Assembly

Rt. Hon. Speaker, Delta State House of Assembly;

My Lord, the Chief Judge of Delta State;

The Deputy Speaker, Delta State House of Assembly;

My Lord, the President, Customary Court of Appeal;

The Chairman and Executive Members of PDP, Delta State;

Hon. Members, Delta State House of Assembly;

The Secretary to the State Government;

The Head of Service;

The Chief of Staff;

The Senior Political Adviser;

Top Government Functionaries;

Your Royal Highnesses;

My Lords, Spiritual and Temporal;

Let me also recognize my leaders, Prof. Sam Oyovbaire, Jide Omokere, Senator James Manager, Olorogun Great Ogboru and other leaders that are here present;

Gentlemen of the Press;

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen.

Let me begin by congratulating the commissioners who have just taken their oath of office. You are among the privileged few from the list of other eminently qualified persons. I must confess that to arrive at this list was a very tasking and painstaking process. It took weeks of extensive consultations, rigorous scrutiny, and consensus building to arrive at the final list of commissioners.

2. I note with pleasure that this State Executive Council is an inspiring blend of youth and experience, and meets the requirements of competency, spread, and sectoral representation. The youth represent a breath of fresh air while the old hands are needed for their maturity, wisdom, mentoring, and stability of the system.
3. I am aware that some are disappointed for not making the cut as commissioner. This is to be expected when you have to pick twenty-six persons from a pool of thousands of qualified candidates. It is obviously not possible to satisfy everybody under such circumstances but I am persuaded that the list largely reflects the wishes and expectations of a broad spectrum of political leaders, key stakeholders, and the various communities. The excitement that greeted the announcement is an indication that we struck the right note.
4. However, for those who did not make it this time, I urge you not to be discouraged. Remember, if it is not your turn today, it may be your turn tomorrow. This government will do everything within its power to ensure that the various interests are catered for in the best possible way. I ask for your patience and understanding as we continue the process of filling the various vacancies in the agencies and departments of government.  However, every appointment will be based on merit, competence, and the ability to think outside the box.
5. To the commissioners that have been sworn in today, I charge you to be humble. Being a commissioner does not make you superior to others. So, you must shun pride and arrogance.  This appointment is simply a call to higher responsibility, and you must justify the confidence that has been reposed in you with good judgment, tenacity of purpose, compassion, and unwavering commitment to the development of the state and the welfare of our people.
6. As stated in my Inaugural Address, the MORE agenda of this administration is designed to ADVANCE Delta through inclusive and sustainable economic growth and private sector job creation, strengthening the human capital, building an enabling infrastructure, and improving governance and accountability systems for improved service delivery. The successful implementation of these programmes calls for drive, focus, innovation, fiscal discipline, and judicious allocation of resources on your part.
7. A lot is expected from this administration in the light of the massive support we received from the electorate in the general elections. Hence, you must roll up your sleeves and get to work immediately because there is no time to waste. This administration is almost three months old and we must make every day count for our people. It is especially important that as commissioners you constantly monitor the progress of projects under your ministry and institute a mechanism for feedback and evaluation.
8. As heads of Ministries, your personal example is the most powerful leadership tool you possess. You must be role models in punctuality, discipline, hard work, excellence, honesty, transparency, and accountability. People will do what they see you do, not what you say. Hence, you must endeavour to match your words with actions.
9. Let fairness, equity, and justice guide your actions, and you must give every citizen equal opportunity to benefit from our programmes and services. In this regard, you must shun ethnic politics and divisive tendencies.  You are to maintain an open-door policy in your ministries and be accessible to all and sundry.
10. I am pleased to report that this administration has taken decisive steps to improve the welfare of our workers, which is an integral part of the MORE agenda. To cushion the hardship our people are facing as a result of the removal of fuel subsidy and the downward spiral of the naira against the dollar, I have approved the payment of Ten Thousand (N10, 000.00) naira to the fifty thousand, one hundred and ninety-six workers (50,196) in the state public service for the next three months starting from August.  The staff figure includes employees of the ten higher institutions in the state.
11. Furthermore, I have approved that workers from salary grade Levels 1-14 should run shifts as follows:

First Batch:                     Monday – Wednesday

Second Batch:                Thursday – Friday.

This schedule will be implemented on a rotational basis. Those who work from Monday-Wednesday in one week will work Thursday to Friday the following week to ensure fairness and equity.  The schedule for officers from salary grade Levels 15 and above is to be worked out by the various MDAs as it is suitable for them. However, staff on essential services must be on duty while working remotely is also encouraged. The other arms of government – the judiciary and legislature – are to work out their modalities as they deem fit.

12. As you are aware, local government workers are not under the administration of the state. However, we have held consultations with the leadership of ALGON and it is our earnest expectation that ALGON will implement the same palliative measures for its workers.
13. In line with my electoral promise, I recently approved the payment of outstanding promotion arrears to twenty-three thousand, eight hundred and eighty-seven (23,887) workers in the state public service. The total amount payable is five billion, five hundred and twenty-two million, six hundred and thirty-seven thousand, eight hundred and forty-eight naira, and five kobo (N5, 522,637, 848.05). The payment commences from this month of August and will be made in four tranches as follows:

Ministries                                                     – August

Judiciary, Parastatals, and

Hospital Management Board                        – September

Higher Institutions                                        – October

Post Primary Education Board                       – November

14. To the glory of God, the thorny issue of unpaid local government pensions is nearing final resolution. My administration helped to secure legislative approval for the local government councils to obtain a N40b bank loan to enable them liquidate their backlog of pension liabilities. The loan, which is guaranteed by the state government, is payable over a five-year period, and will be deducted from the accounts of the local government councils. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the payment of the pensions should commence soon.
15. I have also given the nod for the local government councils to recruit teaching and non-teaching staff to fill up existing vacancies. At least 2,000 persons will be gainfully employed through this process. In due course, we shall carry out comprehensive audit of physical infrastructure in our primary and secondary schools to enable us know where there are gaps and respond accordingly. My administration will spare no expense in providing the conducive climate essential for high quality learning experiences in our schools.
16. Your Excellencies, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, we are keeping faith with the electorate to make life richer and more fulfilling for them as contained in the MORE Agenda. Consistent with my pledge to be Governor for all, I have constituted a committee headed by the SSG and other stakeholders including labour to work out palliatives that will cover the following segments of the population, namely;

• People Living with Disabilities (PwDs);
• Widows;
• Poor and vulnerable households that do not belong to the above categories; and
• the aged.

17. I expect us to roll out palliatives for these categories of people as soon as the committee submits its report. Meanwhile, the committee is also looking at the possibility of the state government acquiring electric vehicles for public transportation. The committee has equally been mandated to initiate the process of converting the existing Tricycle (popularly known as keke) assembly plant in Asaba into a dual-purpose factory that will be able to produce gas-powered keke, in addition to those running on petrol.  If this is done, it should significantly drive down the cost of transportation.
18. Finally, I wish to reiterate the point I made to the Special Advisers on the need for elected officials and political appointees to be our brother’s keeper given the prevailing economic hardship in the country. Our people are going through very difficult times. Therefore, those of us that have the privilege of public office must do everything within our power to bring relief to the poor and the less privileged.  Please, be available to the people. This is very important because our people need to see that we care.  There is a saying that people do not care how much you know until they see how much you care.
19. It is on this note, Your Excellencies, distinguished ladies and gentlemen that once again, I congratulate all the commissioners in the persons of:
20. Odinigwe Odigie Daniel
21. Hon. Joan Onyemaechi Ada-Anioma

iii.     Jerry Ehiwario

1. Charles Aniagwu
2. Dr. Kingsley Ashibuogwu
3. Michael Ifeanyi Anoka

vii.    Hon. Princess Pat. A. Ajudua, Ph.D

viii.   Darlington Ijeh

1. Chief Fidelis OkenmorTilije
2. Barr. Funyei Manager
3. Hon. Godknows Angele

xii.    Dr. Joseph Onojaeme

xiii.   Emamusi Obiodeh

xiv.   Perez  P. Omoun, Esq.

1. Orode Uduaghan

xvi.   Isaac Tosan Wilkie

xvii.  Agbateyimiro Isaac Weyinmi

xviii. Samuel Oligida

xix.   Prof. Tonukari Johnbull

1. Etagherure Ejiro Terry

xxi.   Mrs. Rose Ezewu

xxii.  Jamani Tommy Ejiro

xxiii.  Onoriode Agofure

xxiv. Hon. Izeze Rume Yakubu Reuben

xxv.  Vincent Oyibode, and

xxvi. Sonny Akporokiamo Ekedayen

20. I pray for God to guide and bless you with good health, wisdom, and courage to succeed in this assignment.
21. God bless Delta State.
22. God bless us all.

Office of the Governor,

Government House,

Asaba.

August, 2023.