The Bayelsa State House of Assembly on Tuesday screened and confirmed 24 commissioner-nominees appointed by Governor Douye Diri as members of his cabinet.
The screening took place 24 hours after Diri asked the Assembly to go ahead with the exercise despite the nullification of his election by the state’s governorship election petition tribunal in Abuja on Monday.
The governor, who forwarded the list of nominees to the Assembly last Wednesday, gave the nod when the speaker, Abraham Ngobere, led a delegation of lawmakers to pay him a solidarity visit at Government House following the judgment.
Five former commissioners, who served in the administration of former Governor Seriake Dickson, were among the designates cleared by the Assembly.
They are Maxwell Ebibai, Daniel Igali, Faith Opene, Igwele Newton and Akpoebidei Alamieyeseigha.
The lawmakers asked them questions bordering on their professional competence, experience, and capacity to serve the state.
The speaker explained that the purpose of the four-hour screening was “to legitimise the commissioner-nominees appointments as enshrined in the constitution.”
He advised them to work cordially with the governor to better the lot of the state and strengthen the existing relationship between the executive and legislative arms of government.
Punch