GOVERNOR Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has threatened to sanction some errant officials of the state Ministry of Education and principals in public secondary schools for allegedly collecting illegal levies from parents in the state.
This was as the governor ordered the state Commissioner for Education, Professor Kaniye Ebeku, permanent secretary in the ministry, Dr Patricia Ogbonnaya and the state Director of Secondary Education, Mrs Mae Solomon, to make a formal explanation on the illegal funds.
The governor’s directive was contained in a statement issued by his media aide, Simeon Nwakaudu, a copy of which was made available to Tribune Online on Tuesday.
Governor Wike berated the officials of the ministry for allegedly failing to utilise the ministry’s monthly overhead judiciously, thereby passing unnecessary financial burden to less privileged parents in the state.
Speaking during a meeting with principals of public secondary schools in the state, he also directed principals of the state-owned schools to provide written explanations on how they expended unapproved levies collected from parents.
He gave Friday as the deadline when the principals were expected to submit their written reports to the office of the Chief of Staff to the Governor, adding that officials of the ministry and principals found culpable would be disciplined.
“I hereby direct the Commissioner of Education, the Permanent Secretary and the Director of Education to, within the next four hours, provide written explanations on the issue of the collection of unapproved levies.
“Tabulate the monies collected. How much was collected? How much got to the education ministry? How much was left with the principals? If this is not done, all of you will be suspended. “Also, explain how much levies are being charged the students and to which account are the monies paid to. Who is the approving authority of such an account?,” he queried.
The governor also declared that he would commence a cleansing process in the state Ministry of Education and the public schools to reposition them for greater performance, adding, “I will not spare anyone involved in defrauding our parents.”
Governor Wike said that since assuming office, he had been releasing monthly overhead, which had been suspended by the immediate past administration, to all ministries in the state.
In his remarks, the Commissioner for Education, Professor Ebeku, noted that majority of the 534 public secondary school principals in the state were in attendance at the meeting.
Explaining the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Dr Ogbonnaya and the Director of Secondary Education, Mrs Solomon, said they arrived at the levies following meetings held by the top civil servants, Nigerian Union of Teachers and All Nigeria Confederation of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS) with the ministry during the immediate past administration.
They admitted that no formal memorandum has been written to Governor Wike to seek his approval for the levies charged.
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