Siminalayi Fubara has dissolved the Rivers State Executive Council and relieved all Special Advisers of their appointments in a sweeping cabinet shake-up.
The governor also appointed Mr Onwuka Nzeshi as the new Chief Press Secretary, while his former Chief Press Coordinator, Nelson Chukwudi, was relieved of his duties. No official reason was given for Chukwudi’s removal.
The dissolution was announced in a Government Special Announcement issued in Port Harcourt on Thursday and made available to journalists by the new Chief Press Secretary.
Governor Fubara directed all commissioners and special advisers to hand over immediately to the permanent secretaries or the most senior officers in their respective ministries.
“His Excellency, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, GSSRS, Governor of Rivers State, has dissolved the State Executive Council,” the statement read.
“He has therefore directed all commissioners and special advisers to hand over to the permanent secretaries or the most senior officers in their ministries with immediate effect.
“His Excellency further expresses his deepest appreciation to the outgoing members of the Executive Council and wishes them success in their future endeavours.”
The development is believed to be linked to the recent truce brokered by Bola Tinubu between Fubara and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, in Abuja.
The intervention marks the third time President Tinubu has stepped in to address the prolonged political rift between the governor and his estranged political ally, Wike, as well as tensions involving members of the state House of Assembly.
Following the dissolution, Fubara is expected to forward a fresh list of commissioner-nominees to the Martin Amaewhule-led House of Assembly for screening and confirmation.
Sources indicated that, as part of the peace agreement, the governor may accommodate some loyalists of the former administration in the new cabinet, with the possibility of reinstating certain former commissioners.
