Rivers Assembly Rejects Fubara’s ‘Illegal’ Appointments

The Rivers State House of Assembly has rejected three recent appointments made by Governor Siminalaya Fubara, describing them as illegal and unconstitutional.

On Monday, Assembly Speaker Martin Amaewhule rejected the nominations in a letter to Fubara.

The letter concerns three specific appointments: Goodlife Ben as acting chair of the Local Government Services Commission, Ine Briggs as acting director general of the Public Procurement Office and Tonte Davies as acting administrator of the defunct New Towns Development Authority (NCDA). ).

The Assembly argues that Ben’s nomination violates Art. 44 section 3 of the Rivers State Local Government Act, which requires the Governor to approve such a position by resolution of the House of Assembly.

“However, this law does not confer any power on the Governor to appoint anyone as chairperson or member of the Commission, even in that capacity,” Amaewhule said.

Briggs’ appointment was also found to be unlawful due to the lack of a legally constituted board of directors, which was a pre-condition for the Director-General’s recommendation, which was in breach of Art. 5 section 1 of the Rivers State Public Procurement Act No. 4 of 2008.

“The office will have a director-general who will be appointed by the governor based on the recommendation of the Board, following a competitive selection process,” Amaewhule said.

Amaewhule said that “The Board has not yet been constituted in accordance with Section 4(a) which states that “The Chairman and members shall be appointed by the Governor for a term of four years subject to the approval of the Rivers State House of Assembly.”

He added that a recommendation could not be issued in the absence of the Council justifying the invocation of the Governor’s powers provided for in Art. 5 section 1 of the Act.

On behalf of Tonte Davies, the speaker said Davies’ nomination “is not supported by any legislation and the Governor cannot, alone or by executive order, create this authority without legislation from the Rivers State House of Assembly.”

The speaker urged the governor to withdraw these nominations “without further delay.”

This latest development comes against the backdrop of ongoing tensions between the Wike Assembly supporter and Fubara.

Fubara assumed the position after the expiration of Nyesom Wike’s term and Wike currently serves as the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria

Both factions fought for control over management and political influence in the country.

Last week, the chamber stripped Fubara of his authority to appoint interim committees for state local government boards after overriding the governor’s veto of the bill.

Lawmakers overrode Fubara’s veto and subsequently passed the bill, thereby limiting the governor’s ability to exercise the power previously held by his predecessor Wike.

Since these laws have entered into force, the voivode is obliged to organize elections after the end of the term of office of current officials.

The current councilors, elected in 2021, are scheduled to complete their three-year terms in the first quarter of this year.

The three-year terms of current state councilors elected in 2021 will expire in the first quarter of this year.