Rivers state governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has charged the newly sworn in judge of the state High Court, Justice Stephens Dirialakeibama Jumbo to stand on the side of truth and defend the interest of the state.
Fubara spoke shortly after Justice Jumbo was inaugurated as judge of the Rivers State High Court at the Executive Council Chambers of Government House in Port Harcourt on Thursday.
The governor charged the new judge to abide by his oath office and understood that much was expected of him as he discharged his responsibilities not to the state government alone but to the larger society.
Fubara said: “I do not know the reason why you were not sworn-in earlier. I also do not want to bother myself to try to know the reason. But what is important today is that God’s plan for you has come to fulfillment.
“So, you just read the oath here. What other charge am I supposed to give to you? I think that the greatest charge I can give to you is that I am not going to tell you to do any other thing. You just read it here yourself. Stand on the side of truth, defend the interest of our State. Not me, not Fubara, but the State.”
Fubara said that there was a purpose why God had given him and his team the opportunity to be on the saddle adding that it would be realised no matter the opposition.
The governor said: “I will never call any of you. I have not even done it before, to ask you to do what is wrong. But what we require from everybody, and you in particular, is to stand on the side of truth.
“This is so, so that tomorrow, even if you are asked why you took a certain decision, you can boldly say: I took the decision because it is the right thing to do.
“This way, even your children can walk in the streets of Port Harcourt without fear of what their father might or have done one time or the other while he was in position.
“Rivers State belongs to every one of us. At this time in the history of this country, and in the history of this State, it is not a mistake that we found ourselves in this position. So, I am appealing to everybody: defend and support the integrity of our state”
Fubara while inaugurating the Phase 1 and kicking-off the Phase 2 of Port Harcourt Electrical Village said that besides creating the right business climate that had begun attracting investors to the state, his administration would protect their investments.
The Port Harcourt Electrical Village is a private sector initiative, which Fubara said had come to reality because of the show of capacity and trust in the favourable investment climate of his administration.
Fubara said he did not make mistakes when he declared that the state was open to investors, and invited them to partner with his administration to develop the State economically.
He said: “It should be noted that this project that I have come to commission is not a State project. It is a project by a private investor who has shown capacity because of the favourable business environment that we have created in the State.
“We didn’t make mistake when we assured the world that our State is open for people to come in and invest. It is open for people to come in and partner with government to accelerate development.
“So, our coming here is to tell other investors that if you want to do business in our State, we will give you the enabling environment. If you are coming to do business in our State, we will provide every other thing that you need to make sure that your business thrives well in our State.”
Fubara provided further explanation to his decision of ensuring adequate protection of every genuine investment in the state.
He said: “We want development and government alone cannot develop this State. There is need for private investors to come join hands with government so that together, we can both develop this State.”
