Rivers political crisis heats up again, as Assembly rejects Gov Fubara’s appointments

The Rivers State House of Assembly led by Martins Amaewhule, has rejected some appointments made by the state governor, Siminalayi Fubara over alleged disregard for extant laws in the appointment of people into government offices.

According to the Assembly, Fubara’s recent appointments ran contrary to known laws.

The Rivers State House of Assembly on Monday, at its 100th Legislative Sitting, frowned at the appointment of Mr. Goodlife Ben as acting Chairman of Local Government Service Commission, Dr. Mrs Ine Briggs as acting Director- General of Bureau for Public Procurement, and Mr. Tonte Davies as acting Administrator of New Cities Development Authority.

The House, in a statement by Martins Wachukwu, SA Media to the Speaker, expressed its displeasure when the Majority Leader of House, Hon. Major Jack called the attention of the House to a Government Special Announcement in that regard.

The Speaker, Rt. Hon. Martin Amaewhule, however, stated that the actions of the Governor in appointing someone to act as the Administrator of New Cities Development Authority, a body not known to any legislation in the State is condemnable.

According to Amaewhule, the appointment of an acting Chairman of the Local Government Service Commission, and an acting Director-General of the Bureau for Public Procurement are acts inconsistent with the provisions of the relevant Establishment laws of the Commission and the Bureau.

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He wondered why the governor would deliberately act in violation of extant laws and the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as altered, knowing that such acts constitute misconduct.

The Speaker, according to reports, put the question to the House, which voted in the affirmative and resolved to write to Governor Fubara to draw his attention to Section 44 (3) of the Rivers State Local Government Law No. 5 of 2018 and Section 5(1) of the Rivers State Public Procurement Law No. 4 of 2008.

The House expressed its displeasure in those questionable appointments, which it viewed as an aberration and a violation of extant laws.

However, reacting to the position of the House of Assembly, the Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Joe Johnson, maintained that the governor has not violated any law in his appointments.

Johnson said: “Local Government Service Commission is like EFCC, it is a commission. You remember that Magu was the acting chairman of EFCC until his last day in office. When a governor appoints you in acting capacity it is a tendency that you should hang on till it is ratified.

“The governor has the right to appoint you on acting capacity and then will eventually forward your name to an assembly. In the cabinet where I am a commissioner now, the man who resigned last month alongside the commissioners that have returned few days ago, the Acting Chairman of Bureau of Public Procurement, was on acting capacity and was appointed by the former governor of the state. The current speaker of the house was the leader of the same assembly when Thompson was appointed.

“Is it because it is done now and everything is wrong on their side? Let them do their legislative work and allow the Executive arm of the state to do their work. When there is mistake, we will know. There is Greater Port Harcourt City Authority, if for any reason the governor decides to up the ante, is it a bad idea?

“The governor can appoint anybody into any agency and would decide how it would be called and at the appropriate time the legal frame work would be put in place, so let us not heat up the situation. Let us work in synergy.”

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