Rivers Citizens Wait For The Assembly To Unveil The Names Of State Commissioners As Lawmakers Drop Pending Court Case

By PHC Telegraph

Signs that the frosty relationship between the Executive and Legislative arms in Rivers State is gradually thawing has eventually emerged following the decision by the House leadership to withdraw the case in court.

The decision to withdraw the matter pending at the Court of Appeal (a major issue of discussion among the governor’s supporters) was taken in line with the implementation of ongoing peace efforts initiated by President Tinubu, the House said. Speaker Martin Amaewhule presided over plenary when lawmakers sat Thursday in Port Harcourt.

House Fails To Acknowledge List

Although the Rivers State House of Assembly sat hours ago, it however did not acknowledge  that the Fubara government has approached it with a list of members of the State Executive Council for approval. Its deafening silence over the matter left many critical minds in several public circles wondering what is going on.

“I found this rather strange”, said an observer in Bori, “it did not appear both sides have opened any communication on the matter.”

Growing Expectation 

Despite the silence, there are expectations among Rivers people that state Lawmakers would soon commence the screening of those who are to serve as new faces in the cabinet.

Recall that Governor Siminalayi Fubara had  ordered the dissolution of what was left of the state executive council and thanked out-going members for rendering service to the State.

The Governor’s action in the wake of the President’s intervention raised hopes that obstacles which have usually prevented collaboration between the executive and legislative arms in the  past have been overcome.

Across the country, public interest in the nomination of commissioners in Rivers State has remained intense.

Questions Without Answers

Stakeholders are asking familiar but weighty questions: Who will make the list? Will the governor retain familiar political figures or opt for technocrats and professionals? Will former commissioners make a return?

So far, the Clerk of the Assembly is yet to approach the press which is already on standby with a release containing the list of nominees and a date for screening.

What could be the reason behind the delay of the House to commence the screening ? Could there be behind-the-scene demands from certain quarters? Could they be tied to appropriation?

No Threat To The Deal

“One day, one trouble”, Reuben Abati, an anchor on Arise Television once said about Rivers State while analysing its political crisis.

But insiders in Port Harcourt also known as the Garden City and Abuja, Nigeria’s federal capital, say it is very unlikely that the brief understanding reached in the presence of the President by all the parties is under any threat.

“There is no threat. We know these concerns are borne out of growing expectations, not necessarily from a perspective of growing frustration among the people”, a properly grounded source remarked.

Return To The Assembly Complex

Speaker Martin Amaewhule and his colleagues are expected to return to the State Assembly Complex where a bomb went off following a power struggle. Work is proceeding at the State Assembly Complex  and there are indications that the hallowed chambers may open its doors to lawmakers who may be willing to put the past behind them.

Yet, beyond what is viewed as the nature of commissioner nominations, the impending screening has wider political significance. The exercise is widely viewed as a practical test of the fragile truce brokered in Abuja by President Bola Tinubu to ease the prolonged political crisis in the state.

The crisis, which saw sharp divisions between forces aligned with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, and those loyal to Governor Fubara, had paralysed legislative activities and deepened political uncertainty.

Somehow, the intervention conceived by the Aso Villa involving the President has led to renewed calls for cooperation between the executive and legislative arms in Rivers State.

While details of the discussions at the Presidential Villa were not publicly disclosed, participants nonetheless indicated that the directive was clear: restore institutional stability and place governance above factional rivalry.

Approximately a week after signs of peace emerged on the streets, the people lie in wait for the Assembly which has a unique role to play in the stabilization of Rivers democracy.

With the executive keeping mum over the names on the list, the task of overtly unveiling the faces of those who will serve the State as civil commissioners when the time comes  will be performed by the Assembly.

The Rivers people wait. They do not wait for icy ties which characterized the past but for the warm handshakes across the aisle which demonstrate the resolve of their leaders to face the future together.