JUST IN: Why Rivers government secretariat razed by fire

A section of the Rivers State Government Secretariat Podium block at the Rivers State Secretariat Complex in Port Harcourt, has been razed by fire.

The incident, attributed to an electrical fault, occurred just days after Governor Siminalayi Fubara dissolved the Rivers State Pension Board.

The fire outbreak occurred at the dusk of Monday, October 5, destroying properties in a section of the Podium Block at the Rivers State Secretariat Complex in Port Harcourt, destroying properties.

She said firefighters from the State Fire Service, Federal Fire Service, and the military jointly battled and eventually extinguished the fire.

It also followed the governor’s recent warning to permanent secretaries who, according to him, acted below civil service standards during the period of emergency rule in the state.

Fubara had stated that such records could be used against the erring officers at the appropriate time.

Although no official link has been established between the board’s dissolution and the fire incident, the timing has raised public curiosity about whether the blaze was a coincidence or an attempt to destroy vital documents.

The police and the state government are expected to conduct a thorough investigation to determine the exact cause of the fire.

However, according to a voice note sent to Channels Television, the Head of Service, Iyingi Brown, blamed the incident on an electrical fault.

Meanwhile, this happened barely a month after the suspended Governor of the state Siminalayi Fubara and and members of the State House of Assembly were reinstated by President

It will be recalled that President Tinubu had declared a state of emergency in the oil-rich Niger Delta state on March 18, 2025 which was eventually nullified on September 18, leading to the restoration of the elected Governor of the state.