Rivers Assembly takes steps to limit the authority of governor

Two bills that impact the authority of the state governor have been approved by the Rivers State House of Assembly.

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Rivers State Traditional Rulers Amendment Law 2024 and Rivers State Advertisement and Use of State-Owned Property Prohibition Repeal Law 2024 are the two legislation in question.

During the debate on Tuesday, the two bills that had passed first reading were supported by the majority leader, Hon. Major Jack, who stated, “The major provision of this bill is to allow the Rivers State House of Assembly to be part of recognising and or derecognizing a traditional ruler in this state.”

The representative for the Port Harcourt 3 Constituency, Hon. Tonye Adoki, also made a case for his bill during his campaign, saying, “Mr. Speaker, I know you are aware of the situation of things in this country where things have tripled and most families cannot afford a square meal. That is why we are repealing this law.”

“You can envision a scenario in which you have to pay N5 million to gain entry to a government facility.”

Alfiks Kagbang, the representative for the Andoni constituency, backed him, saying that the law has been requested by his people.

The Speaker gaveled to indicate that both proposals had passed a second reading after hearing the arguments. The legislation were then sent to the relevant committees for further consideration and a report in two weeks.

The meeting was therefore adjourned until January 19, 2024.

If both proposals become law, the governor’s authority to choose and recognise traditional leaders in the state and to manage public infrastructure will be greatly curtailed.