Dame Jonathan will not Collect Salary as Permanent Secretary

In the first set of statements emerging from the office of the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan in response to her appointment as Permanent Secretary in Bayelsa State, the Spokesperson to the First Lady, Ayo Osinlu has revealed that the first lady will not be receiving salaries as a Permanent Secretary in Bayelsa.
According to Mr. Osinlu, “She is on leave of absence… She is not going to function in the office of the permanent secretary in Bayelsa state… It is a civil service position… She is a staff of the Bayelsa state civil service.”
The spokesman said that Mrs. Jonathan will also not collect any perk for the office. In his words, “It will be illegal for her to draw salary from the office.”
It is worthy of note that the president’s wife, left the Bayelsa state civil service 13 years ago after her husband became the deputy governor of the state. Now she is being elevated to a position usually reserved for senior civil servants who are supposed to rise through the ranks over the years
Governor Seriake Dickson said he made the appointment in line with the constitutional powers conferred on his office. On behalf of Ms. Jonathan, Mr. Osinlu argued that the appointment is a routine civil service career promotion, as opposed to insinuations that it is a political appointment by the governor to curry favour from the president’s wife, whom many believe was influential in the governors climb to his office.