Gov. Bassey Otu.
By Dominic Kidzu
There has been subdued resentment of Governor Bassey Otu’s recent appointment of Orok Bassey Okon as Head of Service (HoS) of the state, especially from people who are not of Efik stock. This has been more incandescent in community and tribe/language based groupings.
A friend of mine from the back of yesterday actually tabulated a long list of positions that have gone to the Efiks over and above other ethnic groupings in the state. There would be a day to review this too.
To me, however, the important factor to note is wether the Governor excercised the powers of his office justly or unjustly in the instant case. I will like my compatriots to note that the governor has in no way overstepped the rules guiding the appointment so made. Firstly, the progressive career of a civil servant terminates at the rank of a full Director. Those who are lucky to be “appointed” Permanent Secretaries or Head of Service are only beneficiaries of the governor’s kind exercise of discretion to appoint them into such offices of privilege.
In the case of the Chief Judge of a state the extant laws are very clear and unambiguous. The law says the governor shall appoint the “Most Senior Judge” as CHIEF JUDGE. Even with this clear provision, Governor Ayade attempted to act Maradona in the matter, during his reign. Unfortunately for the position of the Head of Service, it merely mentions that” the governor shall appoint from among the permanent secretaries, a HEAD OF SERVICE” allowing the governor to exercise full discretion in making that choice. Even if there has been the convention that the most senior permanent secretary was always appointed HoS, it still doesn’t make it mandatory to do so.
There was a young lady who worked very closely with the immediate past governor who is said to have arrived Governor’s Office on Grade Level 12. She rose rapidly through the instrument of fiat and the exercise of discretion to become a permanent secretary, to the utter amazement of her contemporaries. She still occupies and enjoys that exalted position today.
Clearly, therefore, the power to appoint belongs to the governor. In fact the governor has the power to appoint a permanent secretary in the morning and make the same person the HoS in the evening. It is what it is. Any extraneous political and ethnic interpretations to the appointment are of course allowed, but the extant rules give the governor the bath of the hornbill. He is not guilty as charged because the law is the law.
Kidzu is a Journalist and Public Affairs Analyst based in Calabar.
