Governor Abubakar Sani Bello of Niger state on Wednesday appointed 19 Permanent Secretaries into the state civil service.
This comes a week after he appointed 17 and sacked 16 other Permanent Secretaries.
According to his media aide, last week’s appointment and sack were ”to allow for the emergence of a new crop of leadership, reinvigorate the service and entrench equity and fairness.”
The governor, speaking at the inauguration of the Perm Secs, urged them to shun partisan politics and aid the government in achieving its goals.
He said each newly-appointed Perm Sec must shun mediocrity and be committed to carrying out their duties with a high sense of “humility, accountability, and above all fear of God”.
The governor noted that their appointment comes at a critical period and told them to depoliticise the civil service.
Bello said: “You are coming at a time your services are much needed to give a new direction in the implementation of government policies, programmes and as well help the political class to achieve our promises to the people”.
“Nothing less than the display of professionalism, expertise and good conduct will be acceptable from you as you bring your wealth of experience to bear on your new responsibilities”.
Two of the newly sworn in Permanent Secretaries have been in acting capacity while the remaining 17 were appointed after a competitive exercise on merit.
The state now has 27 Permanent Secretaries.
