Lawmakers at the Rivers State House of Assembly have criticized Governor Simnalayi Fubara’s recent appointments as unconstitutional. During the Assembly’s 100th legislative sitting on Monday, January 29, the appointment of Goodlife Ben as acting chairman of the Local Government Service Commission was particularly criticized. The lawmakers also raised objections to the appointment of Ine Briggs as acting Director-General of the Bureau for Public Procurement, and Tonte Davies as acting Administrator of New Cities Development Authority.
The House Majority Leader, Major Jack, drew the attention of the lawmakers to the state government circular announcing the appointment during the plenary. A statement signed by the special adviser, media, to the speaker, Rivers State House of Assembly, Martin Wachukwu, reported that the lawmakers expressed their displeasure over the appointments unanimously. Citing some sections, members in their various comments accused the governor of breaching the state’s extant laws.
The speaker of the House of Assembly, Martin Chike Amaewhule, condemned the decision of the governor to appoint someone to act as the administrator of the New Cities Development Authority, saying the body is unknown to any legislation. Amaewhule described the appointment of an acting chairman of the Local Government Service Commission, and an acting Director-General of the Bureau for Public Procurement as acts inconsistent with the provisions of the relevant establishment laws of the commission and the bureau.
The speaker also wondered if Fubara would deliberately act in violation of extant laws and the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended, referring to such acts as misconduct. All the lawmakers voted against the governor’s actions and resolved to write to Fubara to draw his attention to the breaches. They concluded that the governor’s attention should be drawn to Section 44(3) of the Rivers State Local Government Law No. 5 of 2018 and Section 5(1) of the Rivers State Public Procurement Law No. 4 of 2008.