FALLOUT OF SWEEPERS’ PROTEST: Gov Obaseki fires Commissioner

Edo State Environment and Sustainability Commissioner, Mr. Reginald Okun, has been dismissed by Governor Godwin Obaseki over undisclosed reasons.

The governor sacked Okun on Wednesday. He also approved the retirement of the General Manager of the state Waste Management Board, Aiyamenkue Akonofua.

The development was contained in a statement signed and released by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Osarodion Ogie, who added that the governor also ordered the redeployment of the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Mrs. R. E. Obahiagbon.

According to the statement, the governor has ordered the sacked officials to handover their duties to the most senior government official in their offices with immediate effect.

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Obaseki, who appreciated the dismissed officials for their service and wished them well in their future engagements, further directed them to ensure they handover all government property in their possession to the appropriate authorities.
However, analysts contend that the sacked commissioner and General Manager may have run into troubled waters over their failure to pay street sweepers employed by the state government.
The sweepers and cleaners had a day earlier embarked on a protest in the Benin metropolis over the alleged non-payment of their outstanding allowances by the Edo State Government.
The protesters claimed that they were owed allowances spanning six months.

The sweepers had in December, 2017, protested the non-payment of their eight-month allowance.

But Governor Obaseki had said then that the government was not indebted to them as they are not government employees.

Obaseki, who spoke through his Special Adviser on Media and Communication Strategy, Crusoe Osagie, explained that the sweepers were employed by contractors hired by the state government.

 

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