PORT HARCOURT – pro-Wike Rivers State House of Assembly led by the Rt. Hon. Martin Amaewhule, has scolded the Governor of Rivers State, Sir Siminalayi Fubara over his recent appointment of the State Investment Promotion Agency Board.
The lawmakers during their 41st legislative sitting on Thursday, highlighted that there was no law in the state establishing the Agency.
The House expressed its displeasure when the Chairman of the House Committee on Commerce and Industry, Hon. Gerald Oforji, presented a Report on the purported inauguration of the Board of the Rivers State Investment Promotion Agency by Governor Fubara.
The Committee stated that such an Agency if properly established would create a conducive climate to attract and grow businesses in the State; but regretted the absence of any law known to the Rivers State House of Assembly, establishing such an Agency.
They further maintained that if such a law exists, the individuals so nominated would have been subjected to the confirmation of their faction Rivers State House of Assembly.
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Relying on the findings of the Committee, Members commented on the Report, pointing out that the Governor in the exercise of his powers has relegated decency in governance to the background.
The Speaker, Martin Amaewhule, while reacting to the committee report, strongly condemned the appointment and inauguration of the Board Promotion Aof the agency by the Governor.
Amaewhule described the Governor’s action as “condemnable” and “deliberate defiance” of extant laws and the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
He emphasized that such acts constitute misconduct and will be properly addressed, recalling similar actions taken by Governor Fubara, including the appointment of individuals to the Board of the Bureau for Public Procurement without regard to extant laws.
The House of Assembly voted in the affirmative, condemning the Governor’s actions as “illegal” and “questionable”.
