Dickson Tells Appointees to Prepare their Handover Notes

Mr. Seriake Dickson, the governor of Bayelsa State has directed political appointees, commissioners and others to prepare their handover notes in preparation for his transition to second tenure. The directive, which was contained in a circular issued after the governor met with political appointees, State Commissioners and Special Advisers, states that the handover notes should be ready by January 15. While many of the Commissioners are yet to comply with the directive, investigation shows that other appointees, including new appointees, Senior Special Assistants and Special Advisers are worried over their statuses as aides of the governor. It was gathered that the directive is seen as an attempt to appraise performance during the just-concluded governorship election, and to appraise those to be re-appointed. Further investigation revealed that some aides who sustained injury, also had their properties destroyed during the election. Meanwhile, others who were said to have collected money from the opposition party refused to work for the Peoples Democratic Party. The Commissioner for Information, Esueme Dan-Kikile, confirmed that the directive was issued to the appointees. He said: “We were asked to prepare our handover note in preparation for the transition.”