Rivers Assembly Explains Why It Rejected Four of Fubara’s Commissioner-Nominees

The Rivers State House of Assembly on Monday declined to confirm four commissioner-nominees forwarded by Governor Siminalayi Fubara after subjecting them to hours of screening during a session broadcast live on television.

The nominees rejected by the lawmakers were Datonye Alaska, TKD Amachree, Charity Demua and Tamuno Williams.

However, the Assembly confirmed five others, Tonye Bellgam, Prof. Temple Nwofor, Dr Peters Nwagor, Lekue Kenneth and Sir Amairigha Edward Hart.

The screening exercise took place at the Assembly’s chamber located within the legislative quarters along Aba Road in Port Harcourt.

Observers interpreted the outcome of the exercise as a sign that there may have been inadequate consultations between the executive arm of government, the legislature and other political stakeholders before the governor forwarded the list of nominees.

Lawmakers also suggested that some of the nominees’ roles during the political crisis that recently rocked the state contributed to their rejection.

One of the rejected nominees, Tamuno Williams, a lawyer and former Chairman of Okrika Local Government Area, was questioned over comments he allegedly made in the media against the House of Assembly during the crisis.

Williams, who was known to be a vocal supporter of Governor Fubara, was accused of publicly criticising the Assembly and taking legal positions that were later invalidated by court judgments.

During the screening, a brief exchange occurred between Williams and the Speaker of the House, Martin Amaewhule, who challenged the nominee over several public statements attributed to him.

Amaewhule said, “Are you saying that there has not been any posts by you through the electronic or print media?

“Excuse me, listen, he is saying that you have been engaged in such conversation in the media against this august Assembly and you have taken positions in matters of law, which at the end of the day you were wrong because of the judgment of the court.

“The position you took or stood for in the media against this august Assembly turned out that you were wrong because the court ruled that you were wrong. Is it the situation, yes or no?”

Williams declined to give a direct response, saying, “Mr Speaker, I will not argue with this House.”

Amaewhule then concluded, “So, you agreed that you misled the public. You can take your seat Mr Tamuno. You have answered the question.”

Another tense moment occurred during the screening of TKD Amachree, also a lawyer from the Kalabari axis.

Chairman of the House Committee on Information and Public Petitions, Dr Enemi George, informed the Assembly that about 11 petitions had initially been filed against Amachree over alleged involvement in community disputes.

George later told the House that additional petitions had been received, raising the total to more than 15. The lawmakers subsequently resolved to stand down his nomination.

The rejection of Datonye Alaska, a professor of medicine and former Chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association, also surprised some observers.

Alaska, who serves as an infectious disease representative of the World Health Organisation and Editor-in-Chief of the Nigerian Medical Journal, was criticised by lawmakers over what they described as a poor performance during the screening.

The Assembly also raised concerns about alleged alterations to the date on his birth certificate and discrepancies in the spelling of his name across several documents.

Charity Demua, the only female nominee among those rejected, also failed to convince lawmakers during the exercise.

Demua admitted during the screening that she had not paid tax since 2018.

When asked why she did not have a tax clearance certificate, she replied, “I didn’t have work. I am a politician.”

Her response reportedly stunned the lawmakers, with the Speaker asking whether she meant that politicians do not pay tax.

During the exercise, the nominees were asked questions on their academic qualifications, work history, tax compliance and petitions filed against them. At one point, Williams was also asked to recite the second stanza of the national anthem.

Speaking after the screening, Speaker Amaewhule commended members of the Assembly for what he described as their diligent discharge of constitutional responsibilities. “We have nine nominees forwarded to this Assembly by the governor. At the end of this screening, the House has confirmed five of them.

“But the House had chosen to take a deep breath on four of them following their poor performance and controversies surrounding their documents,” he said.