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Delta State Information Commissioner Threatens Resignation Over Okowa's Split Of Information Ministry

It was gathered that following the alleged incompetency of the State Commissioner for Information, the governor decided to split the ministry and remove certain powers from Mr. Ukah.

The Delta State Commissioner for Information, Patrick Ukah, could lose his job after allegedly threatening to resign over Governor Ifeanyi Okowa’s decision to split the ministry.

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Mr. Okowa had two days ago split the Ministry of Information and created the Directorate of Orientation. His Senior Special Assistant, Eugene Uzum, was appointed as the head of the new ministry, which generated bad blood between Mr. Ukah and Mr. Uzum.

Speaking in confidence to SaharaReporters, an assistant to the Delta State governor disclosed, "The Commissioner for Information, Mr. Patrick Ukah, is not in any way living up to the expectation of the State and the governor," adding that as a result, the governor had no option than to split the Information Ministry.

"Governor Okowa has empowered the newly created Directorate to cover almost all the important roles of the Information Commissioner in the State. As at this moment we learned Commissioner Patrick Ukah has allegedly threatened to resign because of the development. Well if he does that, we will wish him well," the SSA said.

It was gathered that following the alleged incompetency of the State Commissioner for Information, the governor decided to split the ministry and remove certain powers from Mr. Ukah.

According to an anonymous source from the Ministry of Information, Mr. Patrick Ukah has allegedly told some of the staff in confidence that with the current state of the ministry, he would have no option but to resign as Commissioner for Information, as he feels that he has been embarrassed and dehumanized by the governor.

"The governor has lost confidence in Mr. Patrick Ukah. He is not competent to handle the Information Ministry. First, when the governor came into office, he ceded to the Government House the ICT unit of the Information Ministry. After some time, the governor again ceded to the Government House the operations of the State website.

"When the ICT unit and website were created during the tenure of former Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, it was said that the ICT and website had been taken to the Government House, but the then-Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mr. Ifeanyi Okowa, prevailed that the Ministry of Information should handle the ICT and website because its falls under the purview of the ministry. 

"But today, the same SSG then who is now governor of the State ceded the ICT unit and website operations to the Government House. As we talk, nothing is happening at the Information Ministry again as it used to be; everything is redundant there. No funding, nothing is happening, and it all boils down to the incompetency of Mr. Patrick Ukah," the source stated.

An anonymous staff member from the office of the Information Commissioner said, "The Commissioner is only floating in the system, as some of his duties as the spokesman of the State government have been hijacked and taken over by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor."

The embattled Commissioner for Information is said to be a political son to Senator Peter Nwaoboshi who nominated Mr. Ukah for the position.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday morning, his first day as Directorate of Orientation, Mr. Uzum warned workers under his ministry to desist from any form of laziness and tardiness. He said the workers should set examples for other Deltans, especially civil servants.

When contacted on the development, Mr. Ukah ignored calls and messages sent to his mobile phone.

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Politics