The Rivers State Executive Council has cancelled the controversial N134 billion contract awarded to the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) for the renovation and furnishing of the state secretariat. The contract, issued under the six-month interim administration of Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtd), was found to have bypassed due process.
The council, chaired by Governor Siminalayi Fubara at Government House, Port Harcourt, ordered CCECC to refund the N20 billion mobilisation fee it had already received.
Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Works, Dr Austin Ezekiel-Hart, said the contract and three others were hurriedly approved without proper procedures. He announced that the government had revalidated the bidding process for all four projects, with a fresh call for qualified contractors to submit bids.
The projects include reinforced concrete shoreline protection and reclamation works in riverine communities across Opobo/Nkoro and Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni local councils, as well as the full renovation of the Rivers State Secretariat Complex.
Meanwhile, the State Executive Council also approved the formation of a committee to develop proposals for new Computer-Based Test (CBT) Centres and ICT Laboratories across the state’s three senatorial districts, according to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Dr Azibaolanari Uzoma-Nwogu.
In a separate development, Tonye Cole, the 2023 governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers, has demanded a public apology and N20 billion in damages from Channels Television.
Cole, through his legal counsel, S.O. Okutepa (SAN) & Co., accused the broadcaster of airing defamatory comments made by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, during a September 18 episode of Politics Today.
In the interview, Wike reportedly called Cole a “thief” and accused him of “selling Rivers Gas for $308 million,” alleging the act crippled state finances. Cole’s legal team described the remarks as “false, malicious, and damaging,” arguing that Channels TV gave Wike “unrestricted airtime” and later rebroadcast the interview on YouTube.
The letter, dated October 8, 2025, demands that Channels TV retract the statements, broadcast and publish an apology, remove the programme from all platforms, and pay N20 billion in compensation within 14 days, or face legal action.
