Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has directed permanent secretaries in the state to produce full account details of their ministries‘ expenditure in the last 18 months.

The governor also advised the permanent secretaries to shun partisan politics as career civil servants, saying that the roles some of them played in the closing days of the immediate past administration were politically motivated.

Addressing permanent secretaries during a meeting at Government House, Port Harcourt, yesterday, Wike regretted that some of them helped the immediate past administration to illegally withdraw funds from the state government coffers even up till May 28, 2015.

He said : “I want full details and printouts of every ministry’s account in the last 18 months. I will not accept any handover note without accompanying account details.

Nyesom Wike

“The past government was coming to a close and some of you were busy signing cheques on May 26, 27 and 28. On May 28, the Transition Committee called most of you and you refused to cooperate because they told you I would not be sworn-in.”

The governor noted that he will not witch-hunt any civil servant irrespective of his/her role in the electioneering period, but said that no civil servant would be allowed to sabotage the efforts of his administration.

He urged the permanent secretaries to work with his administration to revive the state and put back smile on the faces of the people.

“Those of you who want to work with us to develop Rivers State will get the necessary support. You are career civil servants and not politicians. As civil servants, don’t play the role of politicians,” he said.

Wike pointed out that the back-dated employments and indiscriminate issuance of certificates of occupancy by the immediate past administration would be re-visited.

He directed the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Lands and Survey to produce the relevant land documents for examination.

The permanent secretaries were led to the meeting by the Head of Service, Mr Samuel LongJohn.