The Minister of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs Dr. Sylvia Olayinka Blyden has confirmed a news report aired on 98.1 radio in evening hours of July 3rd 2017, alleging she has, earlier that afternoon, sealed off the office of the Human Resource staff assigned to her Ministry. She spoke to Awareness Times Newspaper.

“Yes. I did so myself today in my wisdom as the Minister in charge. I have changed the locks and welded that particular office room shut. I have also served letters on the two errant characters that I don’t want them showing up in this ministry as long as I am the one heading it,” Hon. Blyden asserted.

Without going into specific details, the minister assured that “it was the right thing to do to protect the image of the Government”.

Asked whether she had the right to dismiss civil servants sent to work at her ministry, she said she did not dismiss them as she has no power to dismiss civil servants but she has driven them away from her Ministry back to their Civil Servant bosses who were now at liberty to redeploy them anywhere else but at that particular ministry.

The two staff driven away have been identified as Rebecca Saffa the Deputy Director of Human Resources and O.S. Kamara, also known as Boko Haram.

Factually, no one sees or knows who are the civil servants in ministries but when things go wrong in a ministry, the Minister automatically takes the blame.

However, the 1991 Constitution gives very wide powers to a sitting Cabinet Minister insofar as administration of his/her ministry is concerned.