Zacchaeus Adangor, the Rivers State attorney general and commissioner for justice, has resigned from Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s cabinet hours after he was redeployed to the Ministry of Special Duties.
Governor Fubara on Tuesday night announced a “minor” cabinet reshuffle, where two commissioners loyal to ex-Govenor Nyesom Wike were moved from two key government ministries to new ones.
The second commissioner, Isaac Kamalu, who was in charge of the Ministry of Finance, was moved to the Ministry of Employment Generation and Economic Empowerment.
The Secretary to the State Government, Tammy Dangogo, who announced the redeployment, had asked the two commissioners to perfect their handing over immediately, PREMIUM TIMES reported.
But in a letter dated 24 April and addressed to Mr Danagogo, the former Attorney General said he has rejected his redeployment and has resigned from the state executive council.
“My attention has been drawn to your letter dated 23 April, and widely circulated on social media where I was ‘deployed to the Ministry of Special Duties (Governor’s Office).’
“Further to the referenced letter, I at this moment give you notice of my rejection of the said deployment and resignation from Rivers State Executive Council with effect from 24 April,” he said, adding that he was no longer willing to serve in Governor Fubara’s administration in “any capacity whatsoever.”
‘Reason for resignation’
Mr Adangor, a professor, in his resignation letter, accused Governor Fubara of interfering with his duties as Attorney General.
“It is important to mention that the Governor of Rivers State had in the past couple of weeks willfully interfered with the performance of my duties as the Honourable Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Rivers State, by directing me not to defend, oppose, or appear in suits instituted against the Honourable Attorney General and the Government of Rivers State by persons admittedly hired and sponsored by the Government of Rivers State,” Mr Adango said.
State Government reacts
The Commissioner for Information in Rivers State, Joseph Johnson, on Wednesday, told PREMIUM TIMES that the state government has not received the former commissioner’s official communication of his resignation.
“We have not received it officially,” Mr Johnson said but admitted seeing the resignation letter on social media.
“It looks like he has gone for real,” he wrote in a text to PREMIUM TIMES.
Nelson Chukwudi, the chief press secretary to the governor, when contacted, told PREMIUM TIMES that Mr Adangor “claimed to have resigned”.
Asked if Governor Fubara has not accepted his resignation, Mr Chukwudi said the governor had yet to react to the resignation.
This is the second time in less than one year that Mr Adangor is resigning from Governor Fubara’s cabinet.
The lawyer was among the nine Mr Wike loyalists serving as commissioners in Mr Fubara’s cabinet, who resigned following the political feud between Mr Fubara and Mr Wike, now the FCT Minister.
They, however, returned to the cabinet after President Bola Tinubu brokered a peace deal to end the rift between Messrs Fubara and Wike.
The redeployment of Mr Adangor and his subsequent resignation suggests that the political feud between Governor Fubaara and the FCT minister was not over despite the peace deal.