Chukwuemeka Anyasodike Onowu (born 24 December 1984) is the current Rivers State Commissioner of Special Duties. [1] He is also the National Leader of the Non Indigenes Without Borders in Rivers State. [2]
Onowu grew up in Port Harcourt. He went to Community Primary School Rumuopara but finished his secondary education at Akpor Grammar School. He later attended the University of Uyo where he became Chair of the Peace Solidarity Forum. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in Psychology. [3]
Onowu has served as the National Representative of the National Association of Nigerian Students. In 2010, he became the Information and Research Staff for the Akwa Ibom State Newspaper Corporation. That same year, he worked as Senior Staff of INEC and has been the Senior Advert Executive for The Guardian newspaper from 2012 till present.
Having been made the National Chair of Media and Publicity for the Grassroot Development Initiative, he is also the Chief Press Secretary to GDI, President General and National Leader of the Non Indigenes Without Borders in Rivers State. [2] Onowu was also a member of the Presidential Campaign Rally in Rivers State. He was appointed member of the Rivers State Gubernatorial Inauguration Committee 2015.
Rivers State University, formerly known as Rivers State University of Science and Technology, is a government-owned university located in Diobu area of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Southern Nigeria.
The University of Uyo is located in Uyo, the capital of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. The university was formerly known as the University of Cross River State.
Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi is a Nigerian politician, who served as the federal minister of transportation of Nigeria from 2015 to 2022 under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari. He resigned to contest for Nigeria's presidency under the governing All Progressive Congress (APC). He had previously served as governor of oil-rich Rivers State, from 2007 to 2015 and earlier, as speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly from 1999 to 2007. On 9 April 2022, Amaechi declared interest to contest in the presidential election in 2023. He polled second position in the APC presidential primaries held in June 2022 behind eventual president Bola Tinubu with 316 delegate votes against Tinubu's 1271 votes.
Ibiono-Ibom is a Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State in the south-south region of Nigeria. It has its administrative headquarters at Oko Ita.
Chief Godswill Obot Akpabio is a Nigerian lawyer and politician who is currently serving as the 15th president of the Nigerian Senate since 2023. He was first elected as Senator representing Akwa Ibom North-West Senatorial District in 2015, lost in the 2019 senatorial elections and won in the 2023 elections. He also served as minister for Niger Delta Affairs from 2019 up till 2022 when he resigned to seek re-election into the Nigerian senate. He had previously served as the Governor of Akwa Ibom State from 2007 to 2015.
The governor of Rivers State is the chief executive of the Rivers State government and is one of the governors of the thirty-six states of Nigeria. The governor is supported by the deputy governor, both popularly elected for a term of four years. The governor, as head of the executive branch, has the power to appoint and remove commissioners responsible for each of the state's ministries, the heads of parastatals and the state-owned bodies with specific regulatory or administrative duties. He appoints judicial officers based on the recommendation of the state judicial service commission. The Governor cannot be a member of the state's House of Assembly.
Ezenwo Nyesom Wike is a Nigerian politician and lawyer who has served as the minister of the Federal Capital Territory since 2023. He previously served as the governor of Rivers State from 2015 to 2023.
The Rivers State Peoples Democratic Party, also referred to as Rivers PDP, is the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party in Rivers State, Nigeria. It is currently chaired by businessman and Philanthropist Felix Obuah. Prominent public figures including the late Nigerian senator Ibiapuye Martyns-Yellowe and former governor and Committee Chair on State Creation Peter Odili are products of Rivers PDP.
Ipalibo Gogo Banigo in Obuama, Degema, Rivers State. She is a Nigerian medical doctor and politician who is the current senator representing Rivers West Senatorial District since 2023. She served as the first female deputy governor of Rivers State from 2015 to 2023.
Emmanuel Chinwenwo Aguma was a Nigerian politician and lawyer from Rivers State, a long-term member People's Democratic Party. He was the Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice in the state. Between 2000 and 2002 Aguma worked as Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association, Port Harcourt Branch, and also chaired the Bar from 2006 to 2008. On 10 July 2015, the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee conferred the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) on him alongside 20 others, to be sworn in on 21 September 2015.
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 Omehia's government. He has chaired the Media and Publicity Committee of the Rivers State People's Democratic Party Campaign Organisation. After the PDP took over, Governor Ezenwo Wike appointed him to his cabinet. He was confirmed by the House on 5 June 2015 was sworn-in as Housing Commissioner on 12 June 2015.
The following is a timeline of the governorship of Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, also known as the Wike administration, from his inauguration as Governor of Rivers State on 29 May 2015 to 29 May 2023.
The First Wike Executive Council was the Executive Council of Rivers State between 5 June 2015 and 24 June 2017. It was led by Governor Ezenwo Nyesom Wike with Ipalibo Banigo as Vice-Chairman. The first set of appointments to the cabinet were made on 5 June 2015. The designees included Kenneth Kobani, Chukwuemeka Woke, Emmanuel C. Aguma, Fred Kpakol, Onimim Jacks, Emmanuel Okah and Opunabo Inko-Tariah. Governor Wike appointed Desmond Akawor, Ambassador to South Korea, to serve as Administrator of the Greater Port Harcourt City Development Authority.
The Rivers State Government House, also known as The Brick House or Governor's House, is the official residence and workplace of the Governor of Rivers State. Located in Old GRA, off Azikiwe Road in Port Harcourt, it has served as the governor's residence and office since its establishment in 1928. The name "Brick House" stems from its original structure, which was built using bricks.
Rivers United Football Club is a Nigerian professional football club based in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, that participates in the Nigerian Professional Football League, the highest level of domestic Nigerian football. The club was formed by the merger of Sharks F.C. and Dolphins F.C. in 2016. Their home stadium was the Yakubu Gowon Stadium, formerly Liberation Stadium, in Elekahia that has a seating capacity of 30,000. They moved to the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium in 2020. The stadium, renovated in 2020, has a capacity of 40,000. There is also a female team, Rivers Angels F.C., which is one of the best in Nigeria and Africa.
Theophilus M-Iyenebari Odagme is a medical doctor from Rivers State, Nigeria who was the commissioner of the Rivers State Ministry of Health from 2015 to 2017.
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 in Governor Nyesom Wike's Cabinet.
The 2023 Rivers State gubernatorial election was held on 18 March 2023, to elect the Governor of Rivers State, concurrent with elections to the Rivers State House of Assembly as well as twenty-seven other gubernatorial elections and elections to all other state houses of assembly. The election — which was postponed from its original 11 March date — will be held three weeks after the presidential election and National Assembly elections. Incumbent PDP Governor Ezenwo Nyesom Wike was term-limited and could not seek re-election to a third term.
Betta Chimaobim Edu is a Nigerian medical doctor turned politician. She served as national women leader of All Progressive Congress. She was Cross River State Commissioner for Health until her resignation in 2022. She was also National Chairman of the Nigeria Health Commissioners Forum.