Rivers Assembly confirms five commissioner nominees, rejects four

The Rivers State House of Assembly has confirmed five out of the nine commissioner nominees forwarded by Siminalayi Fubara for screening and confirmation.

Four of the nominees, including a professor, were rejected by the lawmakers after the screening exercise which lasted more than two hours during plenary on Monday.

Speaker of the House, Martin Amaewhule, who presided over the session, announced the decision after lawmakers debated motions supporting and opposing the nominations.

Amaewhule said the house rejected the four nominees due to poor performance during the screening and controversies, including petitions surrounding their nominations.

“The house carefully assessed the nominees and resolved that four of them did not satisfactorily meet the expectations of the assembly during the screening process, including issues raised in petitions against them,” the speaker said.

He added that the lawmakers were not convinced that the affected nominees were adequately prepared to serve in the Rivers State Executive Council.

Those whose nominations were rejected are Prof. Datonye Alasia, Barr. Tamuno Williams, Otonye Amachree and Charity Deemua.

However, the House cleared Tonye Belgam, Prof. Temple Nwafor, Dr Peters Nwagor, Lekue Kenneth and Amarigha Edward-Hart as commissioners-designate, while the speaker said the resolution of the Assembly would be communicated to the governor for further action.