Governor Sim Fubara of Rivers State on Sunday assured commissioners and permanent secretaries in his administration of a conducive working environment.

Fubara said his cabinet members can function optimally without tension or health conditions like high blood pressure.

He spoke at a special thanksgiving service organised in honour of Dr Tammy Wenike Danagogo, Rivers’ Secretary to the State Government SSG, in Abonnema Town, Akuku-Toru Local Government Area.

In a statement by Nelson Chukwudi, his Chief Press Secretary, Governor Fubara said a good administrator does not pressure his team into performance.

“I want to say that this administration that I am leading will stand by you. You don’t need to worry about the BP drugs anymore because I don’t intend to give anyone BP. There is no commissioner here that has BP. Before, you people used to have BP, but now, there is no BP. There is no permanent secretary who was always lying in the hospital and is still lying in the hospital now because there is no BP,” he said.

This comes amid the governor’s intense face-off with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike.

The tension between Fubara and Wike had affected some local government chairmen in the state.

The chairmen loyal to Wike had refused to leave office after the expiration of their tenure.

In April, the Rivers Assembly passed the Local Government Amendment Bill into law despite Fubara’s refusal to give his assent.

The amendment empowered the lawmakers to extend the tenure of elected chairpersons of LGAs and councillors where it is considered impracticable to hold elections before the expiration of their three-year term in office.

Despite declining to assent to the bill, the assembly vetoed his decision.

However, a court judgement nullified the amendment of the local government law.

After much back-and-forth, the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission conducted the local government election.

The Action Peoples Party won 22 out of 23 chairmanship positions, while the Action Alliance won one seat.

The Supreme Court will on Monday, December 16, determine the fate of President Bola Tinubu in a fresh suit seeking his removal from office as Nigeria’s leader.

The new suit marked SC/CV/667/2023 is praying the apex court to sack Tinubu on two major grounds of alleged non-qualification to hold office as Nigeria’s President and usurpation of the same office against the law of the country.

A candidate in the 2019 presidential election on the platform of Hope Democratic Party, HDP, Chief Ambrose Albert Owuru, filed the fresh suit directly at the Supreme Court.

Defendants in the suit are former President Muhammadu Buhari, Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Independent National Electoral Commission INEC and Tinubu as 1st to 4th defendants, respectively.

Owuru, a British-trained lawyer who was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1982, is insisting that he won the 2019 presidential poll but that his tenure was allegedly usurped by Buhari for eight years.

He claimed that his suit at the Supreme Court which would have kicked Buhari out of office was technically jettisoned by the apex court due to mix-up in the hearing dates.

On the other hand, he prayed the apex court to disqualify Tinubu on account of forfeiture of $460,000 to the United States of America over alleged involvement in drug trafficking related offence.

Besides the alleged forfeiture of the sum in relation to drug trafficking, the former presidential candidate also accused Tinubu of being an active agent of CIA, a position he said, prohibits Tinubu from holding the office of the President of Nigeria.

Upon his declaration as winner of the 2019 presidential poll and disqualification of Tinubu for not being qualified to hold the office of Nigeria’s president, Owuru is asking the Supreme Court to pronounce him as Nigeria’s President and as well order his immediate inauguration to reclaim his usurped mandate

Meanwhile the apex court has fixed Monday, December 16, for definite hearing into the suit.

The hearing notice in respect of the new suit reads: “Please kindly take note that SC/CV/667/2023 Chief Ambrose Albert Owuru & Anor VS President Muhammadu Buhari & 3 Ors at the Supreme Court of Nigeria sitting at Abuja is slated for the hearing of Motions on Monday 16/12/2024.

“Thanks, Ukor Michael Akan, for: the Hon. Chief Registrar.”

Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger Republic will stop being members of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, from 2025.

President of ECOWAS commission, Alieu Touray, made the announcement on Sunday during the 66th ordinary session of heads of states and governments in Abuja.

It was reported that the military regimes in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger announced their immediate withdrawal from the ECOWAS in January this year.

Prior to the withdrawal, the trio were suspended from ECOWAS, with Niger and Mali facing heavy sanctions.

However, Touray said ECOWAS has now set the countries’ exit at January 29, 2025 – July 29, 2025.

The ECOWAS president said the timeframe would allow for last mediations and any diplomatic interventions.

The development comes after the military-led governments of Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso announced their decision to withdraw from the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, describing the move as “irreversible.”

The three countries, in a joint statement, accused ECOWAS of serving the interests of France, their former colonial power and pledged to chart a new path for their citizens.

The announcement precedes a key ECOWAS summit scheduled for Sunday, where regional leaders had hoped to negotiate a resolution to retain the three nations within the bloc.