THE Rivers State House of Assembly has issued a 48-hour ultimatum to Governor Siminalayi Fubara, demanding the submission of nominees for various key positions within the state government.
This resolution was passed during the Assembly’s 131st legislative session on Wednesday, March 5, in Port Harcourt, according to a letter addressed to the state governor.
The Assembly, in the letter signed by the Speaker Martin Amaewhule, expressed concerns over the Governor’s alleged repeated appointments to positions that, by law, require prior screening and confirmation by the legislative body.
The Assembly stressed that such unauthorized actions not only undermined the law but also posed a serious threat to democracy in the state.
According to the statement, the governor’s actions, including his decision to designate one Dagogo Iboroma for the post of attorney-general and commissioner for justice, without submitting his name for proper confirmation, constitute clear violations of the 1999 Constitution as amended, as well as other extant laws.
The House further decried the swearing-in of several appointees as commissioners and members of other statutory bodies over the past months, noting that these appointments were executed without the mandatory legislative oversight.
They considered the actions a breach of constitutional provisions governing such appointments.
The legislators also pointed out alleged irregularities in the constitution of the Rivers State Bureau on Public Procurement and the Rivers State Local Government Service Commission.
They noted that appointments to these bodies were made without the mandatory screening and confirmation by the Assembly, alleged contravening the Rivers State Public Procurement Law No. 4 of 2008 and the Rivers State Local Government Law No. 5 of 2018, respectively.
The Assembly, however, mandated Fubara to submit a list of nominees for the aforementioned positions within 48 hours.
This latest development came a few hours after the Assembly.gsve Fubara 48-hour ultimatum to represent the 2025 appropriation bill.
The Rivers government stated tha it had not yet received any official communication regarding the ultimatum.
In a letter dated March 5, 2025, addressed to the Speaker, the Secretary to the State Government, Tammy Danagogo, noted that the government only learnt about the letter containing the ultimatum on social media.
He explained that, as of the close of business on March 4, neither the offices of the Governor, the Deputy Governor, nor the Accountant-General had received any such correspondence.
The ICIR reported that the Assembly had, on Monday, March 3, given Fubara 48 hours to present the new 2025 budget.
In a resolution signed by Amaewhule, the lawmakers cited the Supreme Court’s directive halting federal allocations to the state and prohibiting spending from the Consolidated Revenue Fund until a properly passed Appropriation Bill is in place.
The resolution stated that, in line with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution, the House expected the governor to submit the 2025 budget within 48 hours.
These ultimatums by the Rivers Assembly followed a recent Supreme Court judgment that reinstated Amaewhule and his faction as the legitimate members of the Assembly, which consequently invalidated the previous budget presentation made by Fubara to a rival faction.
Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M