Rivers State governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has warned that permanent secretaries who violated civil service rules during the state’s six-month emergency rule will be held accountable, pledging firm sanctions against those who engaged in illegality.
Speaking at the swearing-in of a new permanent secretary, Austin Ezekiel-Hart, in Port Harcourt on Friday, Fubara said his administration would no longer tolerate misconduct, stressing that the integrity of the civil service must be restored.
“The records will be there, and at the right time, I’ll bring them up one after the other against you,” he said, accusing some senior officials of undermining due process instead of protecting it during the crisis period.
The governor praised Ezekiel-Hart for maintaining professionalism under pressure, saying his refusal to compromise earned him the appointment. “Knowing that you do the right thing, defend your superior. It doesn’t matter, but do it in the right way,” he said.
Fubara vowed that his government would uphold transparency and fairness, insisting that civil servants must put due process above political or personal interests. “For every one of you here, the permanent secretaries who were involved in illegality … your punishment will come. Just be prepared,” he warned.
He assured officers that his administration would never compel them to act outside the law, emphasising that no directive—regardless of its source—should override established rules and procedures.
