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Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State, on Wednesday, reshuffled his cabinet, swapping three commissioners and swearing in six newly appointed ones.
Mr Mbah also assigned portfolios to the new commissioners after Chizoba Ogbodo, a representative of the Ministry of Justice, administered the Oath of Office to them at the Government House in Enugu.
The governor also swore in Godwin Anigbo as the Head of Service of Enugu State.
The swearing-in ceremony came shortly after the Enugu State House of Assembly screened and confirmed the nominees.
PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that Governor Mbah, last Thursday, submitted a list of the then-nominees to the state assembly for confirmation.
The new and reshuffled commissioners
The newly sworn-in commissioners are Benjamin Okoh (Works & Infrastructure), Benedett Okoli (Human Resources & Poverty Eradication), Franklin Ogbonna (Energy & Mineral Resources) and Samuel Ogbu-Nwobodo (Trade, Investment & Industry).
Mr Ogbu-Nwobodo replaces Adaora Chukwu, who resigned from the position on Thursday.
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Two other new commissioners are Ben Collins Ndu Jr. (Water Resources) and George Ugwu (Health), who replaces Emmanuel Obi, who had been serving as health commissioner since 2015 under the administration of the then-Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.
Felix Nnamani was reassigned from the Ministry of Water Resources to the Ministry of Labour and Employment.
Mr Nnamani replaces Chika Ugwuoke, who served as commissioner in the ministry until last week when the governor reportedly sacked him.
Gerald Otiji was reassigned from Works to Housing, while Malachy Agbo was reassigned from the Ministry of Human Development and Poverty Eradication to the Ministry of Information.
Mr Agbo replaces Aka Eze, who resigned as information commissioner to contest in a local government election for Udenu Local Government council, which he won.
‘Hit the ground running’
During the swearing-in ceremony, Mr Mbah charged the appointees to hit the ground running, stressing that there would be no time to waste in his administration.
In two years, the governor said his administration had steered high expectations among the people of the state and Nigerians in general and could not lower its performance across sectors.
“You would soon notice that here in Enugu, we have steered such a high expectation among our people. And every day, it feels as though we are presenting a scorecard.
“Therefore, you have to hit the ground running, as there will be no honeymoon period for you, unfortunately.
“There are humongous goals that we have outlined. And your various Ministries will play critical roles in accomplishing those goals,” he said.
Continuing, the governor told the new appointees: “We set targets, we set goals, and we have key performance indicators, we have measurable indicators, hence, we have to measure and we have to constantly take analysis of where you are in respect to the set goals and what your results are.
“Those key performance indicators are key to us, and we will measure you based on these outcomes and results.”
‘Work as a team’
Mr Mbah asked the appointees to work as a team, in line with the established cultures of the administration.
“We also recognise teamwork champions. We do not encourage working in silos.
“You have to work as a team, we believe that by working as a team, we are able to accomplish our collective goals,” he stated.
“You should not see your colleagues as rivals. They should actually complement your efforts instead.”
‘We’ll keep faith with our Oath of Office’
Mr Ogbu-Nwobodo, who spoke on behalf of the appointees, expressed gratitude to Governor Mbah for finding them worthy of the responsibilities.
He promised that he and his colleagues would not disappoint the governor.
“Since you chose to entrust us with this sacred duty as you make history on a daily basis, we will keep faith with our Oath of Office.
“We will be loyal and dedicated in the discharge of our duties,” he said.
READ ALSO: How we ‘eliminated’ corruption in Enugu – Gov Mbah
Current number of commissioners
Upon assumption of office in 2023, Mr Mbah swore in 20 commissioners.
By 2024, the governor swore in Chimaobi Okorie as the commissioner for land, bringing the number of commissioners to 21.
With the resignations of Mr Eze (Information) and Ms Chukwu (Trade, Investment & Industry), the number dropped to 19.
The exit of two others – Mr Obi ( Health) and Mr Ugwuoke (Labour & Employment) brought the number down to 17.
However, with the swearing in of six new commissioners, the state now has 23 commissioners.
In 2015, the then-Governor Ugwuanyi had 24 commissioners, but reduced the number to 20 during his second term.
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