Rivers Assembly Asks Fubara to Submit Commissioner Nominees for Screening

The Rivers State House of Assembly has called on Governor Siminalayi Fubara to forward the list of commissioner nominees to the House for consideration.

The lawmakers, led by Speaker Martin Amaewhule, made the request on Thursday as the Assembly resumed sitting—less than 24 hours after President Bola Tinubu lifted the emergency rule in the state.

On the Order Paper for the day, only one item appeared: a motion to set a legislative agenda for the remainder of the 10th Assembly’s calendar year.

Although Governor Fubara and his deputy, Ngozi Odu, were expected to resume leadership of the state on Thursday, six months after the declaration of emergency rule, they had not arrived at the Government House in Port Harcourt as of 4:50 p.m.

An excited crowd of supporters had gathered earlier in the day at the Government House, awaiting their return. Officials from the state emergency services were also present.

Governor Fubara, his deputy, and members of the Assembly had been suspended from office in March when President Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers following a prolonged political crisis.

The emergency rule formally ended on Wednesday night, when the former administrator, retired Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas, handed over power.

In a statewide broadcast, Ibas urged political leaders to embrace mutual respect and dialogue as Rivers transitions back to democratic governance.