Apparently irked and frustrated by the show of embarament incurred from some of his top civil servants on Tuesday, the Enonyi state governor, David Umahi has instructed his permanent secretary hopeful to learn the recitation of state and capital and national anthem from their children.
The candidates had failed the recitation while granting oral interviews shortly after the written test which was supervised by the governor, his deputy, Mr. Kelechi Igwe and televised live on the state owned Television.
Two of the permanent secretary hopeful could not recite the national anthem while another two who are top civil servants in the state could not recite correctly the States in Nigeria and their capitals.
One of the candidates claimed that the capital of Kwara state is Kwara and that capital of Lagos State is Lagos, while another simply said that the Anambra State capital is Anambra.
Troubled by the development, governor Umahi told the interviewees to ask their children at home to teach them how to recite the states and their capitals.
The governor noted that two persons each from the 13 Local Government Areas of the state were selected, making them 26, including three serving permanent secretaries.
“The appointment of new permanent secretaries will be based on their performances in the exercise as my administration is poised toward reforming the state’s civil service.
“Only intelligent and resourceful candidates would be selected to assist in repositioning the civil service.” He stated.
40 candidates were reportedly given 42 questions to answer and were expected to score not less than 60 per cent.
The Ebonyi civil service had been run without permanent secretaries since the inception of the Umahi administration and the development had elicited diverse speculations, especially from opposition parties in the state.
