Governor Francis Nwifuru has appointed Prof. Grace Umezurike as the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) making her the first female to occupy the position in the state’s history.
The appointment was contained in a statement signed by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Dr Monday Uzor and made available to newsmen on Friday night.
According to Uzor, the appointment is with immediate effect.
“She will be sworn-in on Tuesday, June 13, 2023 at the executive council chambers of the government house, Abakaliki,” the statement read.
Similarly, Governor Nwifuru also warned his special assistants on internal security, urging them to guard against the escalation of crises and killings in the various communities of the state.
The governor vowed to arrest and prosecute any of the special assistants found culpable of breaches of security and order in the 13 LGAs that they hail from.
According to him: “In no distance time, all the sectors of the government will fully function. We have been confronted with lots of challenges. And we are very sure that with the kind of leaders that will come to help us discharge our duties within one or two weeks, most of all these insecurities will be a thing of the past.
“We charge the newly inaugurated special assistants that the only job they have to give us [in the area of] law enforcement is to give us information. If we record any insecurity again from anywhere in the state, not only will we arrest the SA, but we will prosecute him as being part of that killing.”
He added: “For you to be in charge of security in your local government area or in the city, means that, if there is any security breach, you are the cause of that security breach, and we will hold you responsible for that. I want them to be more faithful.”
Nwifuru further appealed to the stakeholders and citizens of the state to be patient with him and vowed that his administration will surmount all challenges facing the people in the state.
“I’m aware of all the challenges in the state. We are so well equipped to surmount all the challenges that are before us. I solicit more of your patience. We will do everything within our reach to put all the segments in place,” he said.