By Suleiman Anyalewechi

The Rivers State Government on Saturday April 12, 2025, strongly warned  against the peddling of fake news in the State.

This is just as the authorities vehemently denied rumours of the appointment of a former Ikwerre Local Government Chairman, Dr Samuel Nwanosike, as the new helmsman of the River state Waste Management Agency .

The Source reports that the social media has in the last 24 hours been awash with reports of the appointment of  Nwanosike, a purported  cousin of FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, as the new Sole Administrator of the state’s waste disposal agency .

Dr Nwanosike first  hit the lime light for the wrong reason ,when he disrespectfully tagged Governor Siminalayi Fubura as a ” mumu Governor ” last year at the heat of the political crisis in the state .

His rumoured appointment and those of other perceived loyalists of Wike has placed the State’s Sole Administrator on the spot with not a few questioning his motives and impartiality in the face of the disagreement between Governor Fubara and his erstwhile godfather .

But in a statement late on Saturday from Juliana Masi, the spokesperson for the SSG ,the State Government categorically refuted claims of Nwanosike’s appointment ,as well as the reported approval of the employment of about 10,000 persons by the State Civil Service Commission.

The SSG described all the reports as not only fake ,but misleading,noting that the purveyors are only out to create chaos and anarchy in the state .

“We wish to categorically inform the good people of Rivers State and the general public to ignore the fake announcements

Be informed that all official communications from the office of the Administrator of Rivers state have appropriate channels through which they are circulated. Pay attention to such channels.

The Government remains steadfast in its pursuit of a  peaceful, prosperous ,and united Rivers State”,part of the Government statement reads.

By Adesina Soyooye

For publicly dubbing the, now, suspended Governor of Rivers State, “Mumu Governor”, a former Chairman of Ikwerre Local Government Council has bagged a big job from the Sole Administrator of the State, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas, rtd.

Recall that Dr Samuel Nwanosike, as a serving LGA Chairman, at a public fora, referred to the then unsuspended Governor of the State, Siminalayi Fubara, a “Mumu Governor”.

However, Ibas has,  surprisingly, appointed the unabashed staunch loyalist of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, to a juicy office.

Nwanosike is now  the new Head of the Rivers State Waste Management Agency (RIWAMA). appointment came on the heels of the surprisingly and much criticised dissolution of Commissions and Boards of Parastatals and Institutions by Ibas.

With the appointment of Nwanosike to high profile position, the story in Rivers State is that the Sole Administrator has lost the moral high ground of neutrality.They say he has shown where his loyalty lies. They point out that he could not have been ignorant of the relationship between Wike and Nwanosike and certainly not deaf to the insult hauled at Fubara by Nwanosike. They say it questions the neutrality of Ibas in the political crisis,  a product of the bad blood which flows between Wike and Fubara.

This appointment, they are saying, is likely to highten the political distrust and tension in the State.

Nwanosike’s appointment took effect from April 11, 2025, and was announced by the Secretary to the State Government, SSG, Professor Ibibia Worika.

President Bola Tinubu had on March 18, declared a State of Emergency in Rivers State, suspended the democratically elected Governor Fubara, his Deputy, Dr Ngozi Odu, and Members of the State House of Assembly from office for an initial period of six months. He appointed Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas, rtd, a former Chief of Naval Staff, as the State’s Sole Administrator.