Former government placed advisers, commissioners, and others on the successor
Representatives’ spokesperson: “Federal lawmakers protest, ask Tinubu to intervene, why can’t the N’Assembly act yet?”
Siminalayi Fubara, the governor of Rivers State, received the list of commissioners, special advisers, and other important aides along with their responsibilities from his predecessor, Nyesom Wike.
The governor’s close assistant, who made this information public exclusively, said that Fubara had no influence over the nominations since his predecessor was the only one in charge of choosing and appointing them.
According to the source, the fact that some commissioners resigned confirmed that Wike, who appointed Fubara as the governor’s replacement, had imposed them rather than the governor’s choice.
“Yes, the commissioners’ resignation has demonstrated that they were not appointed by the governor,” the aide said. He never nominated them. The outgoing governor sent the governor a list of commissioners and advisers along with instructions on what portfolios and posts they should hold. The governor was even given authority over security personnel and given precise orders about where to station them.
Is there a way for the governor to appoint advisers, commissioners, and other officials, and have them retire in this manner? It isn’t achievable. Remember that we have only been in office for roughly seven months. The governor’s designated commissioners refuse to resign.
The source added, “Yes, the former governor was correct to say he bought the forms for everyone,” in response to the FCT minister’s assertion that the governor and all other elected officials in Rivers State did not purchase nomination forms out of their own pockets. But, please, with what cash? You are aware of the salary of a governor as well as the expense of the Peoples Democratic Party’s nomination and expression of interest forms.
“Let those who wish to depart, and the governor will gather his team members—not spies sent to gather intelligence on the administration.”
Commissioner resignations continue
On Friday, three further commissioners joined the Rivers State Executive Council’s resignation frenzy.
These commissioners are Dr. Jacobson Nbina for transportation, Dr. Gift Worlu for housing, and Austen Ben-Chioma for the environment.
Separate letters, which one of our correspondents cited, contained their resignations and were sent to the governor via the Secretary to the State Government.
Wike also appointed Nbina and Austen-Ben Chioma as commissioners.
This takes the total number of commissioners who have resigned their positions to nine.
Nbina indicated over the phone on Friday that he had quit, saying, “Yes, I resigned yesterday (Thursday).”
When asked why he did what he did, he replied, “It has to do with commitments to my family and myself. I have no grievances about the governor. It is really intimate.
Though it hasn’t been verified, there were rumors that their actions were laying the groundwork for them to formally defect to the APC.
Fubara’s cabinet had earlier seen the resignations of Prof. Chinedu Mmom (Education), Mrs. Inime Aguma (Social Welfare and Rehabilitation), Prof. Isaac Kamalu (Finance), Prof. Zacchaeus Adangor, SAN (Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice), and Dr. Des George-Kelly (Works).
Before being reappointed by Fubara, Mmom, Adangor, Aguma, George-Kelly, Nbina, and Kamalu were all commissioners during the Wike government that just ended.
Wike’s chief of staff for eight years was Emeka Woke, who also left Fubara’s cabinet to serve as special duties commissioner.
Chief Tony Okocha, the APC’s Caretaker Committee Chairman in Rivers State, told our correspondent on Wednesday that this weekend is set aside for the official launch of the new party in the state. He also stated, “You will see the tsunami that will happen that day.”
Assembly demolition is still ongoing.
The state House of Assembly structure was still being demolished on Friday, with the sacred chambers being fully removed.
Upon visiting the complex at around 10 a.m., one of our journalists observed that four bulldozers were in the process of demolishing other nearby structures.
Joe Johnson, the Commissioner for Information and Communications, had informed reporters that the state government had decided to demolish the complex constructed under Dr. Peter Odili’s administration because, following the governor’s visit to evaluate the damage caused by the October 29, 2023 explosion, he had gotten in touch with a firm that had revealed the building had integrity issues and was unfit for legislative business.
Thus, the complex will be rebuilt by the government. However, the lawmakers would have a place to sit until the building is finished thanks to a facility given by the state, Johnson had said.
The Assembly entrance was guarded by a patrol van full of police officers, and although there were no longer any physical barriers preventing vehicles from entering the complex, security blockades were still in place on both ends of Moscow Road.
“Why NASS is unable to step in”
The House of Representatives has provided justification for its decision to abstain from taking over the operations of the Rivers State House of Assembly, which is presently in disarray due to the conflict between Fubara and Wike.
In what has been called the “battle for the soul of the oil-rich state,” Fubara, the political godson of the minister of the Federal Capital Territory, has physically split ways with the outgoing governor.
27 lawmakers who were reportedly Wike supporters defected to the All Progressives Congress earlier this week. Fubara, who seems willing to accept the consequences, wasted little time in demolishing the state House of Assembly complex, which was seen as a brilliant move to override any votes the lawmakers might have taken against him.
Since then, events have happened quickly, with a few high-ranking government officials quitting their jobs in a rerun of the Godwin Obaseki/Adams Oshiomhole spat from a few years ago.
Due to the unrest in Rivers State, there have been calls that the National Assembly step in and assume the function of state legislators in order to maintain order until things return to normal in accordance with Section 11(4) and (5) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
According to subsection (4), “The National Assembly may make such laws for the peace, order, and good government of that state concerning matters on which a House of Assembly may make laws as may appear” in the event that a state’s House of Assembly is unable to carry out its duties due to the conditions existing there.
“A House of Assembly shall not be deemed to be unable to perform its functions as long as the House of Assembly can hold a meeting and transact business,” states subsection (5) of this law.
The House of Representatives’ deputy spokesman, Phillip Agbese, stated in an exclusive interview that the continuing political unrest in Rivers State had not yet been brought up before the Green Chamber and that, until it did, there could be little to no involvement in the interim.
Agbese said, “It is true that the National Assembly has the constitutional authority to step in when there are documented cases of a crisis in a state House of Assembly that is unable to carry out its duties.
There has been no notification of a crisis to the 10th House. We hope that an amicable resolution will be reached so that Rivers parliamentarians may carry out the duties for which they were elected by their constituents. If it is not formally aware, there is not much we can do to intervene in the problem. For now, that’s all I have to say.
demonstrations against the crisis
On Friday, the state’s political crisis took a new turn when the National President of the Ijaw National Congress and two members of the National Assembly from Rivers State led separate delegations to Port Harcourt to express their support for the governor and protest the events taking place in the state.
The two members of the House of Representatives who are members of the National Assembly are Boma Goodhead, who represents the Asari-Toru/Akuku-Toru Federal Constituency, and Awaji-Inombek Abiante, who represents the Andoni/Opopo/Nkoro Federal Constituency.
The MPs led hundreds of young people in a solidarity march that began at the well-known UTC intersection, marched down Azikiwe Road, passed in front of the Government House, and ended at the Rivers State House of Assembly complex’s entrance. The march was accompanied by singing.
Speaking to the assembly, Abiante said that the state had not been captured and that the people of the Rivers were not slaves.
He criticized Wike for arranging the planned impeachment of Fubara and made a subtly suggestive allusion to the minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), saying that while Wike claimed to have touched every council area in the state, nothing changed in his local government area of Andoni.
Additionally, he encouraged President Bola Tinubu to uphold the rule of law and ensure that good governance was the norm in Rivers State, emphasizing the connection between the two.
“There are slaves who are always happy in chains,” the federal member remarked. However, if you study Rivers State’s history as well as the development and global abolition of slavery, you will come across references to Rivers State.
“We are not enslaved. We do not belong to the group of slaves who take pleasure in their chains. I want to thank President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for confirming to the world that excellent governance is, in fact, the one element that may prevent both human violence and a violent takeover of power.
In addition to being the chair of the West African Heads of Government, he preached it. We beg him to preach the same message in his own nation. What you do not have, you cannot sell. We can’t let the other countries in the West African sub-region think less of us.
As a member of the ECOWAS Parliament, I am aware that we are deserving of respect, and President Tinubu has espoused this belief. Rivers State is a test case for effective governance if it is necessary.
“Respect for the rule of law is essential for good governance. A few of the persons we elected have shown a desire to step down. The law states as much. It is improper for a legislator to appear to be disobeying the law.
Abiante claimed that the law specified that the state House of Assembly members who defected to the APC would lose their privileges, throwing a jab at them for their actions.
“They should have the guts to park their belongings outside of the official quarters designated for members of the Rivers State House of Assembly,” he continued. The Rivers State House of Assembly no longer has them as members.
“The court has declared that they should cease being in contempt of court as well. Furthermore, they have voluntarily abdicated the duty entrusted to them.
“Go back home after you leave here and start choosing the people who will represent you in the House of Assembly.” The person who is supposed to be representing me turned around and blatantly said that he signed the petition to remove the governor that God had appointed.
For what reason does he wish to impeach Fubara? Is it the reality that during the eight excellent years of the most recent administration of Rivers State in Andoni, not even a single restroom was opened?
“I take pride in having completed every task in every local government region, even though not a single restroom was opened. Anyone who wants to come tell me what happened in Andoni is welcome to come. After less than six months, we finally have a decent road leading to the Andoni LGA offices, and someone we elected to represent us has informed us that he wishes to remove the governor from office. Will that ever be successful?
We just sent the President a note emphasizing the need to establish effective governance, starting with Rivers State. I would like to inform the Inspector-General of Police once more. The Inspector General informed me that the attempted assassination of the governor of Rivers State was false when I denounced it from the House floor.
“How is he going to tell me that something that was seen globally was fake news? We’ll overlook it. If not, we would have declared that a persona such as that is unfit for the role. However, we have pardoned him. That must not take again once more.
“The inhabitants of Rivers are under Sim Fubara’s governance. We have not dispatched any individual or group of individuals parading whatever.
In support of Fubara, whom he referred to as a true Ijaw son, numerous Ijaw youngsters were led by INC President Prof. Benjamin Okaba to the Government House.
The teenagers emphasized their message with posters that had many inscriptions while they sang and danced.
A few of the inscriptions said things like, “Let’s end godfatherism,” “The governor must be allowed to govern,” “Rivers must be from impunity and tyranny,” and “Rivers and Ijaw people are in support of Governor Fubara.”
Speaking to reporters from the sidelines, Okaba said, “On this fateful day, these Ijaw people gathered here.” Our seven states are in the South-South region. More than two million Ijaw youths are in Port Harcourt right now.
We have made the decision to march in symbolic unity to the Government House in Port Harcourt. Ijaw men and women originate in the states of Bayelsa, Edo, Ondo, Lagos, and Akwa Ibom. We would, if necessary, gather Ijaw people from every coastal region to demonstrate our support for our son, the Rivers State governor who was duly elected.
“The goal of this rally is to urge President Tinubu to instruct his minister to stop putting his knee in the governor of Rivers State’s neck.”
He expressed shock that “Wike is still hell bent on cutting short the tenure of Fubara,” despite the President, PDP governors, elders, the Rivers State Council of Traditional Rulers, and many other Democrats across the nation intervening. Our goal is to thwart any attempts to undermine the procedure.
“As Ijaw people, we are here to declare that although Wike has won many battles, this is a war against the Ijaw people.” Permit him to visit the Ijaw nation’s history. Since pre-colonial times, the Ijaw nation has never been subjugated or defeated. And we’re not going to be defeated.
Ijaw people have been dared by Wike. We are prepared for Wike now that he has declared war on the Ijaw people.
The leader of the INC highlighted that Tinubu’s failure to warn the minister indicated that he was helping him to instigate a crisis in Rivers State.
In spite of having oil resources and installations that support the nation, Okaba continued, the Ijaw nation had been marginalized for far too long. The people of the Niger Delta could no longer ensure the security of the oil facilities in the area.
He said that the President’s silence during Wike’s embarrassing acts in his home state demonstrated his support for the minister.
“We are already incensed that President Bola Tinubu’s administration has marginalized the Ijaw people,” he continued. None of the three people chosen for federal jobs in Delta State are from the Ijaw nation.
“In the meanwhile, the Ijaws are the most economically viable in that state. We’re taking note of everything. However, his silence and acceptance of Wike’s misbehavior indicate that there is some tacit support. And we won’t accept that.
“As we speak, our people are so enraged and frustrated that we can no longer guarantee the safety of the oil installations in Ijaw land and our region if things continue in this manner.”
“And if you, President, are belittling us, then carry on. It will be interesting to see if the Ijaw people are still the same individuals who will say something and see it through.
“The oil from Ijaw territory has been the lifeblood of the Nigerian nation since 1958. Our concerns about environmental degradation and marginalisation remain unabated.
“The Ijaw nation is most affected when it comes to climate change and other related issues. On a daily basis, however, we are not treated like humans. This has to end.
“Ijaw people, numbering forty million, are enraged and hurt. Furthermore, they claim that a slap on Governor Fubara is a slap on the Ijaw people as a whole. It is a call to arms for everyone to try to further restrict political space in order to remove Siminalayi Fubara from power.
