The state House of Assembly, led by Speaker Martin Amaewhule, has ordered the dismissal of all commissioners, but the Rivers State Government has objected.
The parliamentarians demanded that Governor Siminalayi Fubara fire his commissioners and present a new slate of candidates for consideration, and they gave him a 48-hour ultimatum.
In response, the state administration deemed the command to be unlawful and irrational. Sydney Tambari, the Environment Commissioner, charged the MPs with going outside the bounds of the law and exceeding their authority. All existing commissioners, he said, had already been vetted and confirmed by legally recognized Assembly leadership, led by former Speaker Edison Ehie.
Edison Ehie, the Speaker of the House of Assembly, was the one who screened me and was duly acknowledged by the court. According to Tambari, this group of individuals had already left the PDP and gone wherever they went. Moreover, he noted that Victor Oko-Jumbo, Ehie’s replacement, carried on the vetting and confirmation of new commissioners and political appointees following his resignation.
The nominations were lawful, according to Tambari, hence the governor was under no need to submit a new list of applicants. “The governor is not permitted to submit a new slate of candidates to this Assembly. All appointees were properly screened, thus events have beyond their demand for the commissioners to be fired,” he insisted.
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Additionally, the commissioner criticized the lawmakers’ interpretation of the Supreme Court’s decision, arguing that it did not require the dismissal of political appointees or commissioners. He said the decision had no influence on the executive council’s makeup and primarily dealt with the 2025 budget presentation.
The Supreme Court discussed the budget rather than firing commissioners. The governor has the authority to present the budget, but events have already surpassed this, Tambari stated.
