Rivers Assembly rejects four Fubara commissioner-nominees, clears five

The Rivers State House of Assembly on Monday rejected four of the nine commissioner-nominees submitted by Governor Siminalayi Fubara after screening them for possible appointment into the state executive council.

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The assembly members, however, confirmed five of the nominees as commissioners-designate following the screening exercise that lasted more than two hours, Punch newspaper reported.

Speaker of the House, Martin Amaewhule, announced the decision during plenary after lawmakers debated the nominations and considered motions moved and seconded by members who either supported or opposed the candidates.

Why four nominees were rejected

Mr Amaewhule said the four nominees were rejected because of poor performance during the screening and controversies surrounding their nominations.

“Distinguished colleagues, we have nine nominees forwarded to this Assembly by the governor. At the end of the screening exercise, the House has confirmed five of them,” the speaker said.

“And four of them the House has chosen to take a deep breath, given their poor performance and controversies surrounding either their documents, and they have not been able to show this august assembly that they are indeed prepared to serve Rivers State or that they are able.

“And we feel that they are not square pegs in square holes for the offices that they intend to occupy in the Rivers State Executive Council.”

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Those rejected by the Assembly are: a professor, Datonye Alasia; a lawyer, Tamuno Williams; Otonye Amachree; and Charity Deemua.

The lawmakers confirmed Tonye Belgam, Temple Nwafor, Peters Nwagor, Lekue Kenneth and Amarigha Edward-Hart as commissioners-designate.

After putting the matter to a vote, the speaker directed that a formal communication be sent to the governor regarding the screening outcome.

“On that note, distinguished colleagues, I thank you for your contributions. With your leave and in line with our rules, I will forward the resolution of this august assembly to the governor so that he can take necessary steps for the interest of Rivers State,” Mr Amaewhule said.

“On that note, I’m going to forward a letter to the governor and ask him to swear in five of the nominees as soon as possible,” he said before adjourning plenary to 17 March 2026.

Background

Governor Fubara had earlier forwarded the list of nine nominees to the Assembly as the first batch of commissioners following the dissolution of the state executive council in February.

The move came after a renewed political truce aimed at easing the prolonged crisis between the governor and his predecessor, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.