By Isioma Ogochukwu
Delta State Commissioner for Secondary Education, Mrs Rose Ezewu, on Tuesday, said she never gave instruction to School Principals on the purchase of her portrait and that of the Governor.
Speaking during an interaction with journalists in her office in Asaba, Ezewu said detractors were behind the extortion allegations against her.
She said; “I didn’t produce portrait for anybody to sell. I remember querying a Principal at Ughelli for using a very shabby picture of the Commissioner in his office.
“And I said its not good enough that they should try and change it and I told him I will send my original portrait to him to enable them print and replace the one they had.
“I did not produce any official portrait to be sold to schools across the state.
“As Commissioner for Secondary Education, I don’t accept money from anybody for any matter. I am doing my job as prescribed to me and we setup an education taskforce to ensure proper monitoring of our schools.
“We have over 490 secondary schools across Delta State. So effective monitoring and supervision, I put a taskforce in place to assist.
“They have a mandate to checkmate teachers to ensure that they are doing their work. There is a standing directive that there should be morning and afternoon assembly in schools”.
President Association of All Nigeria Confederation of Principals of Secondary Schools, ANCOPSS, Delta State Chapter, Sir Christian Ahweyevu, said: “It is quite disheartening to read that ANCOPSS want to shut down Schools in Delta State because of baseless accusations against the Hon. Commissioner for Education, Mrs Rose Ezewu.
“As the new President of ANCOPSS Delta State, I Christian Orakpo Ahweyevu make bold to write on behalf of all members that there was never a time that ANCOPSS Delta State took such a decision because we have never experienced extortion of any kind from the Hon. Commissioner. We are in good working relationship with her.
“Those invisible people should kindly desist from peddling such fake and baseless stories. We will not fold our hands to allow some self-centred people to drag the good image of ANCOPSS Delta State and cordial relationship with the Hon. Commissioner to the mud. We will continue to stand by our Commissioner and work in harmony to better the standard of education in Delta State”.
