Dame Aleruchi Cookey-Gam is a former Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice and ex-Secretary to the Rivers State Government.

In this interview, she speaks on recent developments in the state and the concerns of indigenes over possible looting of the treasury of the state, among other issues

The Rivers State sole administrator has made it clear that he is acting based on powers conferred on him by the President, who suspended both the executive and the legislative arms of government in the state. Is it possible for those political appointees to stand on nothing?

Well, we need to understand where we are with the state of emergency that has been declared in Rivers State.

But I believe most Rivers citizens and residents have been surprised by the several steps that are being taken, particularly the recent one that was announced, suspending political appointees and the statutory boards that are recognised under the constitution and tenured.

It departs from what is expected that the administrator should be doing at this time because some of those boards, for instance, the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission Board and the Board of Internal Revenue.

I can understand the political appointees like the commissioners or the Secretary to the State Government since he has already appointed a Secretary to the Government, but certainly not the tenured board. It’s uncertain and worrying to citizens.

Are you then questioning even the legality of the appointment of a sole administrator and if he’s acting on powers conferred on him, can he not be the sole administrator as pronounced?

Well, the first thing is to look at how he came about being appointed because the President, who appointed him doesn’t have the powers to remove elected officials of government.

So, the appointment of a sole administrator is unconstitutional, and if that is the case, then we question the appointment of the sole administrator as well.

From your perspective, what are the actions the people can take and at what point will the people of Rivers State, all those who have jurisdiction, take action and what are the options available?

Several options are available to persons directly affected by the exercise of the powers by the President, and I believe that suits will be filed against the unconstitutional acts of the President.

On the path of the citizens, there isn’t much that can be done, since the sole administrator has taken office. But in carrying out his responsibilities, he has to be neutral, and he has to be unbiased.

But if he starts tampering with structures, particularly those that are recognised under the constitution of tenured officers, then it becomes a problem to any person who is watching the actions of the sole administrator. I believe he may necessarily have to have someone he calls the Secretary to Government to carry out some of his assignments.

But the emergency rule is temporary, and what we would like to see is a situation where things come back to normal as quickly as possible.

It’s a temporary measure, it’s a stopgap, even though we believe that the problems in Rivers State have not gotten to the stage where we would have usurpation of powers of elected officials, but that’s where we find ourselves now.

And in that situation, we expect things to be fast-tracked so that they come back to normalcy, and we have our elected officials occupying their rightful positions, both the governor, the deputy governor, and the House of Assembly members.

The sole administrator recently appointed a Secretary to the State Government, what will happen if he decides to make other appointments like commissioners?

My reading of the situation would be that I expect that Rivers indigenous should stand up at a time like this for their state to be counted. What has happened in Rivers State is unacceptable and there must be concerted efforts to make sure that things come back to normal in Rivers State. This is not a time to look for appointments or to pretend that you want to serve the state.

What we have before us is an anomaly, and I want to refer both Mr. President who has appointed the sole administrator and the sole administrator to the provisions of the Constitution that provide for what should happen in a situation where, as said by the Supreme Court, no appropriation law is in place. And that is Section 120 and 121 of the Constitution.

How monies can be spent from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the state in circumstances where there is no appropriation law. Section 122 provides that in such a situation, all that can happen is that the governor will be able to expend monies for needs that meet the requirements of the state.

If we translate that to what is happening now, we do not expect that the sole administrator is going to be embarking on any capital projects. His primary responsibility is to bring law and order. Well, as far as we are concerned, there was no breakdown of law and order.

Now, that is his primary responsibility, and also to ensure that there is safety and security for all. The expenses of the state that he will be taking care of at this time will be the salaries of all workers and recurrent expenditures. So, I don’t see how the sole

Our concern is that our monies are going to be used unjustly for things that we do not approve of or that are not authorised and not for the benefit of Rivers people

administrator is going to require a full cabinet of commissioners because every ministry, department and agency has permanent secretaries who are civil servants, and they are the heads of the government departments.

They are in a position to guide the Sole Administrator as to who are the salaried employees. Also, at the local government level, the HPMs, also the heads of the local governments when elected officials.

So, in other words, the summary of what I’m saying is that there is a limit to the powers that can be exercised by the sole administrator, and we don’t expect to see him come up with a big array of commissioners to be carrying out any responsibility.

We saw the sole administrator at the Rivers State House of Assembly complex, which is an ongoing project, and I believe that he may want to see that it is a completed project.

But is that the reality on the ground, especially as the state allocation has been released in fullness to the sole administrator?

I speak for myself and on behalf of a group, the Rescue Rivers. And the Rescue Rivers are a group of professionals, indigenes of the state, who are completely disillusioned and alarmed by what is happening.

They are not convinced, because, at the end of the day, all we are concerned about is the economic well-being of the state. So, if the sole administrator has to carry out his responsibility, we still maintain it has to be guided by the constitution.

The concern of most citizens of the state is that our treasury is going to be looted. And Mr President, even in exercising his powers, also knows that there must be some form of accountability. And I believe that one of the terms of reference of the sole administrator cannot be to carry out any new projects or award any contracts.

There is nothing so shattering that the priority now is to set things in motion to ensure that normalcy returns to Rivers State so that elected officials can assume the responsibility of administering the state. The Sole Administrator position is an aberration.

The sole administrator doesn’t see anything wrong with his appointment. He says he’s from the Niger Delta and that he’s one of you in Rivers State. He expects that he should be allowed to feel at home, do you consider him one of you?

If you recall, in the President’s speech, he specifically said that the governor of the state had taken no steps to rebuild the assembly.

So, for anybody who was listening to that speech, you would think that nothing had been done. So, it was reassuring to see the sole administrator inspecting the project.

And because that project houses the House of Assembly of all elected officials, I believe that the sole administrator would want to ensure that in handing over, he’s able to, if not conclude the House of Assembly.

But for any other ongoing projects, I do not believe that is a priority at this time. And then you said about him being from the south-south. Yes, he’s from the SouthSouth.

So, is he one of you in Rivers State?

Yes, he’s a son of the Niger Delta, like all of us are of the Niger Delta. That’s fine. But he’s not an indigene of Rivers State. He is not one of us. Under no circumstance can he run for an election here.

He is not an indigene of Rivers State. And the governance of Rivers State should be done by the indigenes of Rivers State.

In terms of the legal limits of the sole administrator, even though appointed by the President. Does the state of emergency declared by the President himself not cover every action under the Doctrine of Necessity, including capital projects?

The first question we should ask is, how are they appropriating the money? One of the sins of the governor was that he was operating without an appropriation law.

So, now, has the President assumed powers to run the Consolidated Revenue Fund of Rivers State? I don’t believe that that is what was intended by the state of emergency.

That cannot be what was intended. That Mr. President can now expend monies from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the state, and by extension, the sole administrator.

That cannot be the intention of the state of emergency. And if you listen to most citizens of Rivers State and of Niger Delta, our concern is that our monies are going to be used unjustly for things that we do not approve of or that are not authorised and not for the benefit of Rivers people.

And everybody has alluded to the fact that possibly one of the reasons why we have this kind of crisis on our hands is because 2027 is at hand. I believe that Mr. President should be just and realise that this is a grave thing that has happened, he must be impartial, he must be just, and he must be fair to the people of Rivers State, particularly remembering where he is coming from when he was governor of Lagos State.

As a governor, he would never have taken this kind of thing, so we expect that Mr. President, in his declaration of a State of Emergency does not automatically mean that all funds in our Consolidated Revenue Fund will be expended without accountability because that’s what it is.

Assuming today that the sole administrator exits office, who is he going to account to? Is he going to account to the governor when he comes back? Is he going to account to the National Assembly? Those are concerns, and they are very grave concerns for Rivers State. And Mr President should try and allay our fears by ensuring that only necessary and critical things are attended to during this interregnum because that is what it is.