Governor Siminalayi Fubara of River State, Monday, inaugurated the 10th Assembly of the state at an event which took place at the Legislative Complex in Port Harcourt.
Fubara also used the opportunity to read a riot act to contractors handling various projects in the state.
The governor cited Section 105, subsection 3 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), which conferred on him the powers to dissolve the previous Assembly and simultaneously proclaim the 10th.
With the proclamation, the House members are now expected to elect the Assembly leadership.
“My duty this morning is officially to dissolve the 9th Assembly and inaugurate the 10th Assembly so you can commence your first session.
Gov. Fubara proclaimed thus: “Whereas it is provided in section 105, subsection 3 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended that the person elected as governor shall have the power to issue a proclamation for the holding of the first session of the state assembly immediately after being sworn in.
“Therefore, I, Siminalayi Fubara, Governor of Rivers State, in exercise of the powers bestowed upon me by section 105 sub-section 3 as aforesaid, and of all other powers enabling me in that behalf hereby proclaim that the first session of the 10th Rivers State Assembly holds at 10:00 am on this day, Monday the 5th of June, 2023, in the Rivers State House of Assembly Complex, Port Harcourt.
Also, Governor Fubara paid an unscheduled visit to the ongoing construction of the convocation arena at the University of Port Harcourt.
Speaking after inspecting the massive facility being built by the Rivers State Government, Gov. Fubara noted that the project is dear to the state government because of its importance to education and youth development.
He charged the contractor handling the project to match words with action by completing the project within the next sixty days as promised, warning that failure to deliver would attract consequences.
Gov. Fubara used the opportunity to warn other contractors handling state government projects to step up their work as he will not condone any delay but would expect prompt delivery on projects.
“From what I’m seeing here, the contractor is also assuring that in 60 days, he can deliver. We will give him the benefit of doubt. But I need to say clearly that if in 60 days, I visit this project, I don’t see it completed, it’s not going to be easy for the contractor; that’s the truth.”
“But I believe from what I have seen the extent of the job that they are doing; I think they’re a bit serious compared to what we saw about two months ago.”
“The reason why this project is important to us is this: It has to do with education and youths. You can’t separate education from the youth, and one of the objectives of our projects is the development of youths and advancement of education. So, our coming here is to see it, assess it ourselves and not only from the reports from the ministry but for me to see it.”
“It is not business as usual. I had a meeting with them the other day and told them that even though this contract is not new, that does not mean that they can go home and sleep. You can see that I am a very punctual person. If I give you 9 o’clock, it will be 9 o’clock. So, my word to the contractor today is that you’ve assured me that in 60 days, you will deliver. There will be serious consequences if I come here by 60 days from today and this job is not ready”, he said.
