The Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri, has reduced the number of ministries he inherited from the Governor Seriake Dickson administration from 32 to 21.
Dickson, who handed over the reins of power to Governor Douye Diri on February 14, had during his eight-year tenure increased the number of ministries from 25 to 32.
In a statement posted Thursday on his Facebook page, Diri said the merger would address the challenge of duplication of functions and cumbersome reports emanating from the ministries.
He said that the decision followed a series of engagements with the state Head of Service, Mrs. Biobelemoye Charles-Onyema, and permanent secretaries.
Diri said no permanent secretary would be sacked as a result of the merger but those affected would be repositioned for the effective discharge of their duties.
Using the example of the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, he said “Hitherto, you had the Ministry of Youth separate and had Ministry of Sports separate; now you merge the two to be known and called the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development.
“That effectively suggests that there will be a permanent secretary in charge of youth and there will equally be a permanent secretary in charge of sports development.”
He said the restructuring would be closely followed with the redeployment of permanent secretaries, stressing that seniority would be the determining factor for selecting permanent secretaries to serve in the mainstream civil service.
PUNCH.
