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Tag: Oko-Jumbo

  • UPDATED: Oko-Jumbo leads authentic House of Assembly in Rivers, says Fubara 

    UPDATED: Oko-Jumbo leads authentic House of Assembly in Rivers, says Fubara 

    Rivers State Governor, Siminialayi Fubara, has signed the 2025 N1.1trn Appropriation Bill into law, declaring that the Victor Oko-Jumbo-led House of Assembly remains the authentic one in the state.

    The governor signed the bill on Thursday, approximately four days after it was presented to the three lawmakers led by Speaker Oko-Jumbo.

    Fubara insisted that Martins Amaewhule and 26 other members who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) are no longer recognised as legislators.

    He said: “I want to say this may be for some persons somewhere who are still mixing up issues. We have only one Assembly and that Assembly is headed by Rt. Hon. Victor Oko-Jumbo.

    “A group of friends about nine months ago embarked on what is called sea-bared journey, halfway the vessel while they were coasting they realized that they were entering the den of devils and sharks and they now want to retreat.

    “It is too late and the truth is that we are not going back. We have given them enough room for peace. There is no governor in Nigeria that can take the kind of insult I took from those set of people 

    “As it stands now our major target is the interest of Rivers State and continue to defend the integrity of governance. As long as I am concerned we have moved on”.

    The governor vowed to ensure full performance of the 2025 budget and thanked everyone that contributed in passing the bill.

    Read Also: Nothing ‘ll stop my government, says Fubara 

    He said: “Let me thank everyone who has made this possible. We made a promise to you that we will continue to keep the interest of Rivers State first.  Now that this bill has been signed I can assure you that every projection in it we will kick start it so that the record of performance that was accorded this administration in 2024 will be higher this year 2025”.

    Fubara thanked his management team including his executive committee members, his deputy, commissioner for finance among others.

    He said: “We expect you to do more because we have a bigger task ahead of us and we have made some promises to our people in education, health, and agriculture. We must ensure that we make a good impact just as we have done in the areas of roads and other aspects of the economy.”

  • JUST IN: Oko-Jumbo leads authentic House of Assembly in Rivers, says Fubara

    JUST IN: Oko-Jumbo leads authentic House of Assembly in Rivers, says Fubara

    …signs N1.1trn 2025 Appropriation Bill

    Rivers State Governor, Siminialayi Fubara, has signed the 2025 N1.1trn Appropriation Bill into law, declaring that the Victor Oko-Jumbo-led House of Assembly remains the authentic one in the state.

    The governor signed the bill on Thursday, approximately four days after it was presented to the three lawmakers led by Speaker Oko-Jumbo.

    Read Also: Nothing ‘ll stop my government, says Fubara 

    Fubara insisted that Martins Amaewhule and 26 other members who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) are no longer recognised as legislators.

    Details shortly…

  • Oko-Jumbo-led lawmakers screen, confirm commissioner nominees

    Oko-Jumbo-led lawmakers screen, confirm commissioner nominees

    …condemns violence in LG secretariats

    The Victor Oko-Jumbo-led House of Assembly has screened and confirmed four commissioner nominees sent to the lawmakers by the Rivers state governor, Siminialayi Fubara.

    Some of the commissioner nominees were asked to take a bow and go having served as members of the state Assembly.

    A statement signed by Oko-Jumbo’s special assistant, media, Stephen Banigo, said the screening process was followed by a unanimous resolution confirming the nominees.

    Those successfully screened and confirmed are Israel Lebura Ngbuelu, Ph.D, Evans Bapakaye Bipi, Otamiri John Ngubo, Benibo Anabraba

    Read Also: Oko-Jumbo-led Rivers Assembly confirms Fubara’s appointees

    Oko-Jumbo raised a matter of state importance on the security infractions in some council secretariats across the state.

    He said reports at his disposal showed that there were “pockets of violence within certain local governments in Rivers state.”

    He said the governor had shown exceptional restraints in the face of provocation and called on the Inspector-General of Police to carry out his constitutional duties by going after those, who had decided to burn down government infrastructures in the state.

    He added that the state had sacrificed so much for peace and the government should not allow any person or group of persons to perpetrate such unpatriotic acts without legitimate repercussions.

    The plenary which was graced by former principal officers and members of the House was thereafter adjourned to Thursday, October 10.

  • Oko-Jumbo-led Rivers Assembly confirms Fubara’s appointees

    Oko-Jumbo-led Rivers Assembly confirms Fubara’s appointees

    The Victor Oko-Jumbo-led Rivers House of Assembly has screened and confirmed Lawrence Oko-Jaja, SAN, as Chairman of the Board of Rivers State Bureau on Public Procurement (RSBoPP).

    Also screened and confirmed as members of the board were Dr. Ernest Ibekwe Ekwe; Dr. Mina Ogbanga; Iseleye Amachree; Adokiye Oyagiri; Gift Alex-Hart; Mrs. Grace Osaronu; and Selinah Amoniea.

    The eight nominees appeared for screening and confirmation before the lawmakers in line with the letter sent by the State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, to Oko-Jumbo.

     Oko-Jumbo read the letter during the plenary at the Hallowed Chamber of the House of Assembly, Auditorium of the Administrative Block, Rivers State Government House in Port Harcourt, on Friday.

    The governor in the letter said: “Request for screening and confirmation of the members of the Rivers State Bureau on Public Procurement; pursuant to the provisions of Section 1, Sub-Section 4 of the Rivers State Public Procurement Law No. 4 of 2008.

    Read Also: Oko-Jumbo-led Assembly invites Fubara’s nominees for screening, confirmation

     “It is my pleasure to forward the under-listed nominees to the Rivers State House of Assembly for screening and confirmation as members of the Board of Rivers State Bureau on Public Procurement.”

    During the screening, the nominees promised to bring their wealth of experience in moving the state forward concerning government policy implementation.

    Oko-Jaja assured that if confirmed, the board under his watch would ensure value for money for goods and services contracted by the state government.

    Oko-Jumbo advised the nominees to always know that they would hold their trust and loyalty to the state government to seamlessly harmonise best practices with quality performance while enforcing probity and accountability in all procurements handled by the Bureau.

    The lawmakers by voice votes confirmed the nominees describing them as fitting for their appointments.

    The House adjourned the sitting to September 4, 2024.

  • Oko-Jumbo-led Assembly invites Fubara’s nominees for screening, confirmation

    Oko-Jumbo-led Assembly invites Fubara’s nominees for screening, confirmation

    The Victor Oko-Jumbo-led Rivers State House of Assembly has invited nominees of the state governor, Siminialayi Fubara, for screening and confirmation as chairman and members of the board of Rivers State Bureau on Public Procurement.

    Those invited to appear before the lawmakers on Friday, August 30, are Lawrence Oko-Jaja, SAN, nominated by the governor as the chairman of the board.

    Read Also: What you need to know about FG’s ban on under-18 WAEC, NECO candidates

    Others nominated as members are Dr. Ernest Ekwe, Dr. Mina Ogbanga, Iseleye Amachree, Adokiye Oyagiri, Gift Alex-Hart, Grace Osaronu, and Selina Amonieah.

    A statement signed by the Clerk of the House, Dr. G.M. Gillis West, asked the nominees to appear at the Hallowed Chamber, Auditorium Admin Block, Rivers State Government House, Port Harcourt.

    They were asked to come along with their 12 sets of Curriculum Vitae, the original, and photocopies of their credentials.

  • Oko-Jumbo lawmakers hold plenary, confirm Fubara’s commissioner-nominee

    Oko-Jumbo lawmakers hold plenary, confirm Fubara’s commissioner-nominee

    The Victor Oko-Jumbo-led lawmakers in Rivers State on Monday, July 8, held a plenary, screened and confirmed Governor Siminialayi Fubara‘s commissioner nominee, Emmanuel Onengiye-Ofori Frank-Fubara.

    The screening and confirmation followed a letter sent by Fubara to Oko-Jumbo, requesting the House to confirm Frank-Fubara as a commissioner to serve in the Rivers State Executive Council.

    Oko-Jumbo, while reading the letter during plenary at the temporary facility used for Legislative business in Government House Port Harcourt on Monday, said Fubara sent the request pursuant to Section 192 of the 1999 Constitution as amended.

    During the screening, Frank-Fubara explained that he hails from Abonnema Town in Akuku-Toru Local Government Area, adding that he had been in legal practice for 26 years where he managed his private legal chamber in Port Harcourt after being called to bar in 1998.

    Read Also: BREAKING: Re-present Rivers 2024 budget within 7 days, Amaewhule-led Assembly tells Fubara

    Frank-Fubara also said that having served on many boards and committees in the public sector, he would bring his wealth of experience to his new appointment if confirmed and sworn in, adding that he would discharge his duties creditably with unalloyed commitment.

    The House later reverted to the business of plenary where they openly debated on two bills: the Rivers State Emergency Management Agency Bill, 2024; and the Rivers State Transport Company Reform Bill, 2024.

    The lawmakers passed the two bills through a second reading and committed them to the committee stage to allow for further detailed examination with instruction to conduct public hearings and report the outcome to the House in the next two weeks.

  • Court to hear Amaewhule/ Oko-Jumbo suit June 28

    Court to hear Amaewhule/ Oko-Jumbo suit June 28

    The Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State,  fixed June 28 for hearing the case seeking to sack Speaker Amaewhule-led House of Assembly, following the lawmakers’ alleged defections to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    The Presiding Judge, Justice Steven Dalyop Pam, heard the suit instituted by the BOOT Party against Amaewhule and 24 others, despite a petition to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho, by Amaewhule seeking the transfer of the matter to another court.

    The party and other plaintiffs in suit number FHC/PHC/269/2024 are praying the court to declare the seats of Amaewhule and 24 others vacant for defecting from the Peoples  Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC.

    The suit has been dragging since  December as parties are locked in legal fireworks, with the PDP and the APC seeking to be joined in it.

    But the court was confronted on Monday with a petition by Amaewhule and addressed  to Justice John Tsoho, seeking the reassignment of the case to another court.

    Read Also: BREAKING: Kano Court adjourns suit seeking removal of Bayero, four others as emirs

    Justice Pam, who read the petition in the open court, noted that the petitioner, Amaewhule, prayed the CJ of the High Court, to stop the hearing process and transfer the case to another court.

    Pam noted that the petitioner claimed in the petition that the court refused to allow other interested parties to join the suit.

    But the lawyer to the BOOT Party, Mr. Reuben Wanogho, told the court that the petition was aimed at arresting the ongoing case and urged the court to discountenance it.

    Wanogho averred that the petition that was not served on the parties was impudent, adding: “I urge your Lordship to totally discountenance the petition as it is targeted at arresting the proceeding.

    “If your Lordship bows to this letter, then you have allowed the litigants to determine pending applications before the court even before they are heard.

    “It is not part of our jurisprudence that the determination of motions for joinder will form the bases for the transfer of cases. The application is a slap to the temple of justice and all of us who are workers in that temple.”

     PDP National Legal Adviser Adeyemi Ajibade(SAN) insisted that there was no intention by the court to shut out anyone from joining in the suit, adding that the petition was ill-intended.

    However, the lawyer to the 1st to 25th defendants in the suit, Ferdinand Orbi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, denied knowledge of the petition by his client.

    He prayed the court to adhere to the petition and stop further proceeding if the letter was addressed to the CJ of the court.

    Orbi said: “I know nothing about the petition, even though it was written by the 15th defendant. Be that as it may my lord, if the letter is addressed to your Lordship, then there may be grounds to consider the submissions.