THE Rivers state House of Assembly on Wednesday, January 17, cleared all the nine commissioners who resigned their positions from the cabinet of the state governor, Siminalayi Fubara.
They were asked to ‘take a bow and go’ during their rescreening.
The ICIR reported that the Assembly invited the appointees who quit Fubara’s government last year for rescreening and reconfirmation.
The officials who had earlier been sworn in resigned at the peak of the crisis between Fubara and his predecessor, now Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.
They are the Commissioner for Special Duties, Emeka Woke; Commissioner for Social Welfare and Rehabilitation, Inime Aguma; Commissioner for Finance, Isaac Kamalu; Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Zacchaeus Adangor (SAN); and Commissioner for Works, Des George-Kelly.
Others are the Commissioner for Transport, Commissioner for Education, Chinedu Mmom, Commissioner for Housing, Gift Worlu Jacobson Nbina and Commissioner for Environment, Austin Ben-Chioma.
They are expected to produce 40 sets of photocopies of their curriculum vitae and original copies of their credentials to the State House of Assembly and Legislative Quarters (the screening venue).
During their appearance before the House on Wednesday, January 17, the House’s Majority Leader House, Major Jack, moved a motion stating that the nominees should “bow and go” as they had already undergone screening.
The deputy speaker, Dumle Maol, backed the motion. Therefore, the lawmakers allowed the nominees to “take a bow and go.”
During the session, the Speaker, Chike Amaewhule, expressed dissatisfaction with the refusal of Government House officials in Port Harcourt to receive mail from the Assembly.
He issued a warning that the House would not receive any mail from Fubara if the Governor’s Office refused to accept correspondence from the Assembly.
The ICIR reports that a wave of resignations rocked the state’s executive council on December 16, 2023, due to the political impasse between Fubara and his predecessor, Wike.
To prevent the crisis from further escalating, President Bola Tinubu waded into the crisis and brokered a truce between the two leaders, resulting in the signing of an eight-point resolution.
One of the issues in the agreement was the reinstatement of the previous commissioners who had quit their positions.
The ICIR reported that during the crisis, Fubara presented the 2024 budget to only five members of the state House of Assembly after 27 of the 32-member Assembly defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The governor signed the budget into law a few days later.
A reporter with the ICIR
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What led to the resignation of 9 commissioners from Fubara’s cabinet in Rivers Assembly?