Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has made another move to reverse his predecessor’s actions, this time by reinstating the ownership of a property previously revoked from former military governor, Gen. Anthony Stephen Ukpo (rtd). The decision marks a significant reversal of the previous administration’s stance on the matter.
The property in question, Ogeyi Place Hotels (formerly Le Meridien Hotels Limited), situated at Plot 319, GRA Phase II, Port Harcourt, has been at the centre of an ownership dispute. The land was previously confiscated by the former administration under Nyesom Wike’s leadership.
The Fubara administration, which officially announced the reversal of the revocation through a public notice sighted by The Guardian, attributed the initial revocation to an “error,” saying that its action marks a significant correction of the previous administration’s decision.
It would be recalled that Fubara had recently annulled the recruitment of 10,000 civil servants approved by Wike, citing irregularities and compromise in the hiring process.
IN another development, a high court in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, has discharged and acquitted a former member of the House of Representatives, Dr Farah Dagogo, of criminal charges brought against him by the Rivers State Government.
Dagogo was arrested on April 28, 2022, in Port Harcourt when he appeared for screening as a governorship aspirant of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
Wike, as Rivers State governor, had declared him wanted, alleging that he sponsored thugs and cultists to disrupt the PDP screening exercise for National Assembly and State Assembly aspirants. Dagogo vehemently denied the allegations, asserting that they were fabricated to prevent him from contesting for the governorship position.
In his ruling, yesterday, in suit No. PHC/1440/CR/2022, Justice Chinwendu Nworgu of the Port Harcourt High Court expressed dismay at the prosecution’s lack of diligence and subsequently discharged and acquitted Dagogo of all charges.
Meanwhile, Dagogo’s lead counsel, Cosmas Enweluzo (SAN), who spoke after the court session, said that the ruling had completely freed Dagogo of all encumbrances, emphasising that the case cannot be resurrected in any court of law in the country.