The state House of Assembly, headed by Speaker Martin Amaewhule, has ordered the dismissal of all commissioners, but the Rivers State Government has objected.
After giving Governor Siminalayi Fubara a 48-hour ultimatum, the MPs demanded that he fire his commissioners and forward a new slate of candidates for consideration.
The state government responded by dismissing the directive, claiming it was unlawful and without merit. Sydney Tambari, the Commissioner for Environment, charged that the parliamentarians had overreached themselves and acted without a valid reason. He claimed that the legally recognized Assembly leadership, led by former Speaker Edison Ehie, had already screened and confirmed all of the current commissioners.
“Edison Ehie, who was properly acknowledged by the court as Speaker of the House of Assembly, screened me. This set of folks had previously left the PDP and gone wherever they went,” Tambari stated. Additionally, he emphasized that Victor Oko-Jumbo, Ehie’s replacement, carried on the process of vetting and verifying other commissioners and political appointments following his resignation.
Tambari insisted that since the appointments were legitimate under the law, the governor was under no duty to provide a new list of applicants. No new list of nominees may be sent to this Assembly by the governor. Events have surpassed their demand for the commissioners to be fired because all appointees were thoroughly scrutinized,” he insisted.
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The commissioner also took issue with the way the lawmakers interpreted the Supreme Court’s decision, claiming that it did not require the dismissal of political appointees or commissioners. He asserted that the decision had no influence on the executive council’s makeup and merely dealt with the presentation of the 2025 budget.
“The Supreme Court did not discuss firing commissioners; instead, it discussed the budget. Events have already surpassed the governor’s judgment in presenting the budget, Tambari stated.
