Tension As Rivers State Lawmakers Reject Professor, Three Other Commissioner-nominees

By Suleiman Anyalewechi 

The Rivers State House of Assembly, on Monday, March 9, 2026, rejected the nomination of four Commissioner-nominees, including a Professor.

The Source reports that Governor Siminalayi Fubara, after a prolonged lull had a couple weeks ago submitted a list of nine Commissioner-nominees to the law makers for screening and confirmation.

The nomination of the Commissioner-nominees ,was sequel to the acclaimed President Bola  Tinubu-brokered truce in  the long drawn disagreement and crisis between the camps of the Governor and his political godfather, the Federal Capital Territory FCT Minister Nyesom Wike.

However, at plenary on Monday, the Speaker of the House, Rt Hon Matins Amaewfule informed that only five out of the nine nominees were confirmed after what he described as a rigorous screening process that lasted for over two and a half hours.

According to the Speaker, four nominees were rejected based on what he called general poor performance during the screening exercise.

He also cited a plethora of weighty petitions written by some individuals and groups as part of the reasons for rejecting the four nominees.

The four rejected nominees were Prof Datonye Alasia , Barr. Tamuno Williams ,Otonye Amachree and Charity Deemua.

“Distinguished colleagues, we have nine Commissioner-nominees forwarded to the House by the Governor .

“At the end of the screening exercise, the House confirmed five of them 

“And for four of them, the House has chosen to take a deep breath given their poor performance and controversies surrounding their documents and their inabilities to prove to this august Assembly that they are indeed prepared to serve Rivers state or that they are capable.

“We feel that they are not square pegs in square holes for the job they are intended to do in the Rivers State Executive Council.

” On that note, distinguished colleagues, I thank you for your contributions. With your leave, and in line with our rules, I will forward the resolution of this august Assembly to the Governor so that he can take necessary steps for the interest of Rivers State”, the Speaker stated .

The Source further reports that not a few fear that the rejection of the Governor’s nominees may have signaled the commencement of another round of cold war between the pro-Wike State legislators and Governor Fubara.

It is also widely speculated that among the four rejected nominees were two  personal candidates of the Governor for the strategic Ministries of Justice and Finance , further highlighting the locking influence of Wike in the formation of the state Executive Council.