By Blessing Elo Oghene
Governor Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta State has set a 10-week recall date for suspended Commissioner for Works (Highways and Urban Roads), Reuben Izeze, following the appointee’s plea for forgiveness.
Oborevwori announced the decision Tuesday at Government House, Asaba, shortly after swearing in the Auditor-General for the state and members of the governing councils of three state-owned universities.
Izeze, who was among dignitaries at the event, later rushed to the stage, knelt before the governor and expressed gratitude following the governor’s announcement.
Explaining his decision, Oborevwori said Izeze had sent him a message earlier in the day pleading for forgiveness and asking him to inform the public that he had returned from remand at the correctional facility.
The governor told the audience: “Let me talk for a minute about one commissioner who was suspended. He sent me a message this morning that I should forgive him.
“I always tell people that my kind of system is different. If someone like me has changed my style, this is not the Sheriff of 20 years ago.
“So when you are in government, you must behave well because nobody is above the law.”
The governor, however, said the commissioner would have to complete the period he had stipulated before returning to office.
“You have pleaded, and you didn’t have that shame, and you are coming to face the public because people know that you are under suspension.
“From where you were suspended is not yet two months, but I will say that when it completes 10 weeks, then you can resume work,” Oborevwori told Izeze.
Izeze was suspended indefinitely by the governor on August 10 following allegations linking him to the assault on the Governor’s Senior Special Assistant on Protocol, Simon Mudi, popularly known as Temple, during July 26 fracas at the PTI Conference Centre, Effurun.
The incident subsequently led to Izeze’s arraignment and remand at the Nigerian Correctional Service Custodial Centre, Okere, Warri.
A Delta State High Court sitting in Effurun had ordered his remand for 14 days pending further proceedings.
At the time, the state government said Izeze’s suspension was necessary to allow security agencies conduct an impartial investigation into the allegations without interference.
The governor’s latest pronouncement effectively gives the suspended commissioner a defined timeline for his return, while stressing the administration’s position that public office holders must conduct themselves within the law.
