Governor Diri Appoints Sawyer to Lead Bayelsa Civil Service

Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri, has approved the appointment of Dr. Wisdom Ebiye Sawyer as the new Head of the Civil Service.

The announcement was made in a statement on Tuesday by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Alabrah. Sawyer’s appointment comes after the retirement of Barrister Biobelemoye Charles-Onyema on August 31, 2025.

Until his elevation, Sawyer was a Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health. He joined the state civil service on June 8, 1998, as a medical officer.

Born on May 14, 1970, in Odi, Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Area, Sawyer had his early education at Town School, Okrika, Rivers State, and later attended Okrika Grammar School, where he completed his West African School Certificate examinations in 1986.

He studied medicine at the University of Port Harcourt, where he earned his MBBS in 1996. He went on to obtain a Master’s degree in Public Health from the University of Lagos in 2000, a Fellowship from the National Post-Graduate Medical College, Lagos in 2005, and a Part 2 Fellowship in Public Health in 2010.

Sawyer has also defended his PhD dissertation in Clinical Sciences and Public Health at the Niger Delta University and is a member of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS).