Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State has said he decided to drop 21 permanent secretaries because they failed the aptitude test conducted by the state government.

Briefing journalists at the Government House, Gusau, on Friday, Matawalle also said the state government decided to reduce the number of permanent secretaries because the state had the highest number of PSs in the North-West.

He said, “All assessments have shown our state has a far greater number of permanent secretaries than any of our sister states in the North-West, and we constituted a restructuring committee to verify their competence.

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“The committee, therefore, invited all the permanent secretaries and six others whose appointments were reversed by the past administration and subjected them to a written test and interview to assess them.

“Based on the outcome of the assessment, only 26 qualified for retention as permanent secretaries.”

The governor hailed the strategy adopted by the committee in conducting the exercise and consequently accepted to drop the 21 permanent secretaries that failed the test.

He, however, said those who were not retained would be considered for appointment as directors general, managing directors and executive secretaries.