Zacchaeus Adangor, the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice of Rivers State, has officially tendered his resignation.
Addressed to Governor Siminalayi Fubara, the letter, dated 14 November, cites Adangor’s departure as being grounded in his “personal principles.”
“I wish to thank Your Excellency for the opportunity and privileges granted me to serve in your administration as a member of the cabinet. My family and I are indebted to Your Excellency in gratitude,” Mr Adangor’s letter read in part.
The letter obtained by IgbereTV specifies that the resignation became effective on the date of the letter, November 14. This predated its public revelation by a month, as it only came to light on Thursday.
But it is still unclear if the date on the letter is a slip, or that the commissioner has since left office. It is also a poasibility that he chose to backdate his resignation.
Although, a top official in the state who asked not to be named given the tense political climate in the state confirmed Mr Mr Adangor’s resignation, the state government has yet to make any official statement on the development as of the time of filing this report.
Mr Adangor, a professor and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, is one of the cabinet members who served in the immediate past administration of Nyesom Wike, who is now the minister of the Federal Capital Territory.
His resignation is allegedly linked to the lingering power tussle between Governor Fubara and his predecessor, Mr Wike.
The resignation of Mr Adango, an ally of Mr Wike, came to light a day after the House of Assembly constituted by only four members loyal to Governor Fubara declared vacant the seats of the 27 defected lawmakers oyal to Mr Wike.
He is the first cabinet member to resign from office since the feud between Messrs Wike and Fubara became public in late October.
It is not clear if other loyalists of Mr Wike serving as commissioners in Mr Fubara’s cabinet will also resign.
The Rivers State House of Assembly has been enmeshed in crisis since late October following an impeachment plot against Governor Fubara by some lawmakers loyal to Mr Wike.
Since then, the assembly has split into two factions – Martin Amaewhule is the speaker of the 27 members who are backed by Mr Wike while Edison Ehie is the speaker of the faction loyal to Governor Fubara.
Both factions have held parallel sittings but the crisis took a new dimension on Monday after Mr Wike-backed faction announced their defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The following day, Mr Ehie’s faction obtained a court order to conduct legislative business without interference from the rival faction.
Buoyed by the court protection, Mr Ehie’s faction met on Wednesday and declared vacant the seats of his 27 colleagues who defected to the APC.
