• Women urge Tinubu to lift Fubara’s suspension
The Rivers State Government has cancelled all pending procurement and tender processes in compliance with the Supreme Court judgement.
The Sole Administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd), made the remark in a special announcement, signed and issued by Prof Ibibia Worika, the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) in Port Harcourt, yesterday.
He said that the cancellation was in adherence to the Supreme Court judgement which upheld the Appeal Court ruling in Suit No. CA/ABJ/CV/133/2024.
Ibas stated that the cancellation affected all procurement and tender processes carried out by MDAs during the period in question.
According to him, all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) that carried out such tender processes for projects in their respective offices are, by this announcement, mandated to refund such tender fees to contractors immediately.
He said they should await the approval of a spending plan by the state government which would be notified them in due course.
Meanwhile, hundreds of women under the aegis of Rivers Women Unite for Sim (RWUS) have urged President Bola Tinubu to cancel the suspension of Governor Siminalayi Fubara and other elected officers of the state.
The women drawn from across the 23 local government areas convened by Sotonye Toby Fulton, made the call yesterday, during their weekly prayer for peace and progress in the state, held in Port Harcourt, the state capital.
A participant at the prayer session said there was no war in the state that requires the declared state of emergency. They also insisted that the state needs the suspended Governor Fubara to continue his official work he is elected for.
Gloria Akor-Okocha, an administrative manager with Port Harcourt Water Cooperation, said: “We’re praying for restoration, we are praying that Nigeria will come to truth, we are praying that God will install truth in the country and restore our governor back.
“What they have done is mere intimidation. The governor was voted for and he was elected as the executive governor of Rivers state. There is nowhere in the constitution that an elected governor can be removed by one man under the disguise of state of emergency. There was no bombing anywhere in the state, there was no fighting, people are moving about their peaceful business. Then what is the reason for the emergency rule?
“It is high time that people began to know the truth. We cannot be intimidated; our voices will not be shut down. It is when women will rise up and speak, Siminalayi Fubara is the governor of Rivers State and so shall it be. We are praying not to fight anybody, but we have a power who is above and we call on God to fight the battle.”
Dr. Vivian Elenwo, President of Ijaw Women Connect, expressed that “Rivers State with governor Siminalayi Fubara is peaceful. Our youths are not on the streets, they are peaceful, you can see the women are praying. God is the highest court, is above the supreme court, so, we have brought our complaint to God today”.
“The state of emergency has limited our freedom; mothers are afraid, children are afraid, fathers are hiding because we don’t know the next step they are going to take. What we are suing for is that they should give this Rivers State the peace that we have always lived for. They should lift this emergency rule and recall our governor back to the government house,” she said.