The First Wike Executive Council was the

Executive Council of Rivers State The Executive Council, also known as the Governor's Cabinet is the highest administrative decision-making authority in Rivers State. It is part of the executive branch which is the most influential branch of the state government. It comprises the ...

between 5 June 2015 and 24 June 2017. It was led by

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Ezenwo Nyesom Wike Ezenwo Nyesom Wike (born 13 December 1967), is a Nigerian politician and lawyer who is the sixth and current Governor of Rivers State. He is an Ikwerre from Rumuepirikom in Obio-Akpor, Rivers State. He is a member of the People's Democratic ...

with

Ipalibo Banigo Ipalibo Gogo Banigo (née Harry; born 20 December 1952) is a Nigerian medical doctor, politician and the first female Deputy Governor of Rivers State. A member of the People's Democratic Party, she has held various important offices at the Rivers ...

as Vice-Chairman. The first set of appointments to the cabinet were made on 5 June 2015. The designees included

Kenneth Kobani Kenneth Bie Kobani is a Nigerian politician of the People's Democratic Party. He is a former Rivers State Commissioner of Finance, and was previously a Commissioner of Commerce and Industry. He was a former National Treasurer of the defunct Action ...

Chukwuemeka Woke Chukwuemeka Woke (also known as Emeka Woke) is an engineer and politician of the People's Democratic Party. He has served as chairman of Emohua local government area of Rivers State, Nigeria. In June 2015, incumbent Governor Ezenwo Wike appointed hi ...

, Emmanuel C. Aguma,

Fred Kpakol Fred Barivure Kpakol is an accountant and politician. He served as Rivers State Finance Commissioner between 2015 and 2019.He also served as the Commissioner for Agriculture between 2019 and 2022. He is a native of B-Dere in Gokana. He studied acc ...

Onimim Jacks Onimim Ernestina Jacks (née Briggs) is a lawyer serving since June 2015 as the Rivers State Commissioner of Agriculture in Nigeria. She is a member of the Rivers State People's Democratic Party. Early life and education Jacks was born on 4 Decem ...

Emmanuel Okah Emmanuel Ihuoma Okah, commonly known as Emma Okah, is a lawyer and politician in Rivers State. A member of the People's Democratic Party, he served as Chief Press Secretary under Governor Odili, and was also Commissioner of Information under Omeh ...

and Opunabo Inko-Tariah. Governor Wike appointed

Desmond Akawor Desmond Akawor is a diplomat and politician who was Ambassador of Nigeria to South Korea from 24 April 2008 to 6 August 2015. He was appointed Administrator of the Greater Port Harcourt City Development Authority Greater Port Harcourt City Dev ...

, Ambassador to

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, to serve as Administrator of the

Greater Port Harcourt City Development Authority Greater Port Harcourt City Development Authority (GPHCDA) is an agency of the Government of Rivers State, the second largest economy in Nigeria. It was formed under Law No. 2 of 2009 on Greater Port Harcourt City Development Authority. It is entru ...

. On 16 July 2015, former Permanent Secretary of

Rivers State Ministry of Environment The Rivers State Ministry of Environment (RSMENV) is a ministry of the Government of Rivers State established in 2003 to deal with matters relating to the environment. Its functions include formulating, implementing and reviewing of policies on th ...

Rufus Godwins Rufus NkereAwaji Godwins is a lawyer and civil servant in Rivers State, Nigeria. He is the former Head of Service under the administration of Governor Ezenwo Wike. Prior to his appointment, he had served as the Director of Public Prosecutions in Ri ...

was sworn in as the

Head of Service The Rivers State Civil Service (RSCS) is the body of professional civil servants entrusted with the responsibility of carrying out the policies of the Rivers State government in relation to infrastructural development and social service delivery. ...

. Further appointments to the Wike Executive Council were announced formally on 20 November 2015 and included 20 commissioner nominees, all of whom were confirmed by the

Rivers State House of Assembly Rivers State House of Assembly is the legislative branch of the Government of Rivers State inaugurated in 1979. It is a unicameral body with 32 members elected into 32 state constituencies. The current Speaker of the State Assembly is Rt. Hon. Ik ...

and sworn in on December 18.

Executive Council members

The Wike Executive Council was composed of the following members:

Resignations, suspensions and dismissals

Media and Publicity Special Adviser, Sir Opunabo Inko-Tariah resigned his cabinet position in a letter of resignation dated 6 November 2015. Inko-Tariah stated that unfolding developments in the state indicated that his services were no longer needed. On 12 February 2016,

Commissioner of Finance A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to incl ...

along with Accountant General Abere Dagogo were temporarily relieved of their duties. The suspension lasted until 15 February before being lifted following interventions by different political leaders. Governor

also suspended

Kelvin Wachukwu Kelvin Kinikanwo Wachukwu is a Nigerian engineer who served as Rivers State Commissioner of Works from December 2015 to April 2016. He was suspended indefinitely from office for negligence, dereliction of duty, particularly his failure to supervise ...

indefinitely from his post as

Commissioner of Works A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

. The reasons given included negligence, dereliction of duty and poor project supervision. Wachukwu was replaced by

Bathuel Harrison Iheanyichukwu Bathuel Harrison Iheanyichukwu is a civil engineer and architect, who serves as the current Rivers State Commissioner of Works. He was appointed to this position by Governor Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, confirmed by the Rivers State House of Assembly and s ...

, who was officially sworn into the Cabinet on 9 May. On 31 August 2016, four commissioners, a special adviser and the

were handed a suspension of 3 months each for unstated reasons. The commissioners suspended from office were the Commissioner of Culture and Tourism

Tonye Briggs-Oniyide Tonye Briggs-Oniyide is the current Rivers State Commissioner for Culture and Tourism. She was appointed in 2015 by Governor Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, replacing Nnabuihe Imegwu. Early life and education Briggs was born in Port Harcourt with family ro ...

, Commissioner of Finance

, Commissioner of Sports

Boma Iyaye Boma Iyaye (born 24 September 1969) is a Rivers State accountant, politician and the incumbent Commissioner of Sports. Education He was educated at State School II Port Harcourt between 1974 and 1980. He attended Baptist High School for his se ...

and Commissioner of Chieftaincy and Community Affairs John Bazia. Others suspended included the

and Anugbum Onuoha, Special Adviser on Lands. Further reports, however, revealed that the Governor had taken his decision following an Executive Council meeting in August "which the officials attended late". They were later recalled to their various offices on 16 September that year. On 15 February 2017, Theophilus Odagme was dismissed from the office of

Commissioner of Health The Rivers State Ministry of Health is a ministry of the Government of Rivers State that facilitates the provision of health services to residents and visitors in Rivers State, Nigeria. Its current headquarters is at 2nd Floor, State Secretariat C ...

. He was the second commissioner dismissed openly from the cabinet. On 22 June 2017, Wike fired Bathuel Harrison Iheanyichukwu from the post of Commissioner of Works, making him the second cabinet official in that ministry to be removed from office. A day after Harrison's abrupt removal,

Commissioner of Information and Communications The Rivers State Ministry of Information and Communications is a ministry within the Government of Rivers State that is entrusted with formulating and implementing strategies to develop and promote the media sector in the state. The ministry is al ...

Austin Tam-George Austin Tam-George is a Nigerian academic and communication consultant who served in the Rivers State Government as the Commissioner for Information and Communication, from 21 December 2015 to 23 June 2017 when he voluntarily resigned from his post i ...

handed in his letter of resignation. The Executive Council was dissolved on 24 June 2017.

References

External links

* {{Wike 2010s establishments in Rivers State Cabinets established in 2015 State executive councils of Nigeria 2015 politics in Rivers State 2016 politics in Rivers State executive council of Rivers Stateo 2010s disestablishments in Rivers State 2015 establishments in Nigeria 2017 disestablishments in Nigeria Cabinets disestablished in 2017

Executive Council members

Resignations, suspensions and dismissals

See also

References

External links