The Martin Amaewhule-led Rivers State House of Assembly has declared the recently constituted Rivers State Investment Promotion Agency by Governor Siminalayi Fubara as illegal.
The House, loyal to Minister Nyesom Wike, also stated that all related appointments made by the governor were not recognized by law.
At its 41st sitting, the House asserted, “There was no law permitting the creation of the agency, nor had there been any communication to the House on the matter.”
The Chairman of the House Committee on Commerce and Industry, Gerald Oforji, presented a report on the “purported” inauguration of the Board of the Rivers State Investment Promotion Agency by Governor Fubara.
The committee’s report noted, “While such an agency, if properly established, could create a conducive climate to attract and grow businesses in the state, it regretted the absence of any law, as recognised by the Rivers State House of Assembly, establishing such an agency.”
The report further stated, “The committee maintained that if such a law existed, the individuals so nominated would have been subjected to confirmation by the Rivers State House of Assembly.”
The Speaker, Amaewhule, maintained, “Fubara’s action in appointing individuals to an agency not backed by any legislation in the state was condemnable.”
When the Speaker put the matter to a vote, the House voted in the affirmative and strongly condemned the actions of the governor, declaring them “illegal and questionable.”