The Rivers State House of Assembly on Wednesday instructed the nine commissioners who resigned recently to ‘take a bow and go.’
On Monday, the parliament led by Rt Hon Martin Amaewhule convened to invite the commissioner-nominees for screening, in line with the 8-point peace agenda endorsed by Governor Sim Fubara of Rivers State and FCT Minister Nyesom Wike. This agenda resulted from a meeting with President Bola Tinubu in Abuja.
The nominated individuals include: Zacchaeus Adangor, Dr. Jacobson Mbina, Dr. Gift Worlu, Mrs Inime Chinwenwo-Aguma, Engr. Chukwuemeka Woke. Others on the list are Prof. Prince Chinedu Mmom, Dr. George-Kelly D. Alabo, Hon. Isaac Kamalu, and Engr. Austin Ben Chioma.
During the plenary session at the Legislative Quarters on PH/Aba Expressway, Port Harcourt, the Speaker presented a letter from Governor Siminalayi Fubara dated December 11, 2023, formally requesting the screening and confirmation of the Commissioner nominees.
This letter definitively resolves any debate regarding whether the governor had made such a request.
Responding to the situation, the Majority Leader of the House, Hon Major Jack, proposed a motion stating that since the nominees had undergone screening previously, there was no necessity to repeat the process. As a result, he suggested that they should be allowed to ‘take a bow and go.’
The motion received support from the deputy speaker, Rt Hon Dumle Maol, leading to the lawmakers’ decision for the commissioner-nominees to proceed with the acknowledgment and leave.
Ignore Fubara’s Correspondence?
The Speaker also expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that the staff at the Government House in Port Harcourt have been refusing to accept correspondence from the House. He cautioned that if the governor’s office continues to reject their correspondence, the House will reciprocate by declining to receive any correspondence from Fubara.
It remains uncertain whether the governor will respond to this recent concern raised by Amaewhule, an associate of the immediate past governor, Wike.
A few weeks ago, the nominees resigned from their positions as commissioners in the Fubara cabinet due to the political standoff between Wike, the former governor of the state, and Fubara.