Governor Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta state has approved the immediate suspension of the commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Omoun Perekebena Perez.

While Bennett Ezon-Abode Agamah, Permanent Secretary; Engr. Oki Preowei Yintareke, Assistant Director, Agricultural Engineering and Mr. Gabriel Idiatacheko, Chief Accountant are to proceed on compulsory leave until further notice in line with civil service extant rules.

The decision of the governor may not be unconnected with the N280 million implementation of the Greenhouse project in the ministry which was reportedly paid into a private account by the embattled commissioner and permanent secretary.

The suspension followed a report by a seven man committee constituted by the governor to investigate allegations against the commissioner and all the persons accused in the report

The committee is chaired by the secretary to the state government (SSG), Kingsley Emu, to investigate the claims and perceived infractions related to the management of the scheme by the ministry.

According to a statement signed by the Secretary to the State Government, Emu, consequent upon the interim report of the committee and in order to have an unimpeded access to information during the period of the investigations, the Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori has approved the immediate suspension of Omoun Perekebena Perez.

The statement added that the government’s action is in no way a presumption of guilt but rather a necessary measure to uphold the sanctity of the investigative processes already instituted which is to ensure that the investigation is conducted without any potential for undue influence or bias.

It would be recalled that the Commissioner and the Permanent Secretary and workers in the ministry were accused of illegally transferring N280 million meant for agricultural programmes to a private account.