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The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bayelsa state, has condemned the decision of the state governor, Seriake Dickson, to appoint 35 permanent secretaries just few months to the end of his tenure.
        APC in a statement signed by its state secretary, Alabo Martins, took the governor to the cleaners, saying the party is quite aware of the illegal employment scheme going on in the state, The Nation reports. The opposition party said it is, however, not against the appointments if they were done according to the civil service rules, adding that the timing of the appointment was very wrong and in a bad taste. If the outgoing administration was aware of the existence of these vacancies in the top echelon of the public service of the state and that the situation was creating a lull in the service, why were the vacancies left unfilled until the eventide of the administration. “No doubt, the appointments are in bad taste just as the motive is clearly political and an effort to put the popular in coming government on a bad light by ensuring that we are financially transgulated,” the party said. Martins therefore urged the governor to focus more on completing ongoing projects in the state, asking indigenes of the state to hold his government responsible if nothing is done on them. The APC’s state secretary also faulted how the Dickson has been approving the covert employment of some people in the state. “The government did not lift embargo on employment until January this year when one thousand graduates were employed. But, pockets of employment were carried out from time to time with names directly forwarded by His Excellency the outgoing governor”. The rules and procedures do not allow applicants to apply for employment directly to the Governor. But, this is practice in the state. Integration of officers from the plastic industry was haphazardly done. It created avenue for irregularities in the system which allows illegal employments into the civil service,” he said.