Fubara bares fangs, demolishes Assembly Complex, presents 2024 budget to four lawmakers

• Assembly declares seats of 27 defected lawmakers vacant
• We have no hand in Wike-Fubara feud, FG declares
• PDP to sue defected lawmakers, seeks fresh elections
• State APC chair disowns 27 defected lawmakers
• Lawmakers whose seats were declared vacant lack sound legal advice – Falana

The intrigues trailing the political crisis in Rivers State heightened yesterday, amid tension between the Rivers State governor, Siminalayi Fubara and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.

The drama began very early at the Rivers State House of Assembly, when the state government moved bulldozers to demolish the complex two months after fire caused by explosives gutted the Assembly.

Amid tight security, the demolition started around 6:45 a.m. with the governor leading a convoy consisting of about 10 bulldozers carried on heavy-duty flatbed lorries into the Assembly premises.

Security presence along Moscow Road was very tight, with both sides of the road completely cordoned off and blocked to vehicular traffic. However, there was no repeat of the actions of October 30 when the governor was tear-gassed as the policemen allowed foot traffic in and out of the street.

While this was ongoing, Fubara described his predecessor as ‘My Oga’ (my boss) in a message to celebrate Wike’s birthday, who turned 56 yesterday.

“I congratulate my oga. Your Excellency, my dear wife and I, and the good people of Rivers join your family and friends to felicitate you on this day. We sincerely pray that your new age brings you joy and good health,” Fubara said in the birthday message he posted on his X page.

Just as citizens were waking up to the unfolding drama, Fubara presented the N800 billion 2024 budget estimates to the Edison Ehie-led faction at the Government House. Ehie (loyal to Fubara) and Martins Amaewhule (loyal to Wike) have been embroiled in a Speakership tussle which is in court.

The budget presentation was held at a hall in the Government House, apparently due to the “renovation” work at the Assembly Complex. Present at the budget presentation were members of the House loyal to Ehie. None of the members, who on Monday moved from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), were in attendance.

The state government said the renovation was carried out on the advice of consultants, who warned that the building is no longer habitable.

The government said the advice to demolish and restructure the building was predicated on the recent fire that engulfed the allowed chambers and the need to strengthen the complex. The Commissioner for Information, Joe Johnson, said the government hopes to give the renovation accelerated hearing.

In the continuing drama, two of the 27 lawmakers that defected were reported to have reneged their decision, with some others lobbying to return.

It was gathered that the duo of Tonye Adoki, representing Port Harcourt constituency II and Linda Somiari Stewart, representing Okrika constituency returned and apologised to Fubara.

But in a swift reaction, Adoki refuted the claims of his volte-face, insisting he is still in APC, while Stewart neither denied nor confirmed the story, though she is reported not to be in the country.

The four-member Assembly thereafter declared the seats of the 25 lawmakers vacant, saying there was no known crisis or divisions within the PDP, which they cited as reason for their defection.

Ehie said the decision was in line with Section 109 (1) (g) and 2 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended. The Speaker, who read the names of the affected lawmakers, called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct fresh elections within the time frame provided by law to fill the positions.

“The House, as it stands now is left with six legitimate and constitutionally-recognised members and in line with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution, precisely Section 102, the House will effectively continue to discharge its responsibility of legislation, representation and oversight, notwithstanding vacancies in the membership of the House.”

Constitutional lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), said the members whose seats were declared vacant were unexposed to sound legal advice. Falana stated this in an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today last night. He said INEC is required by law to conduct elections for the seats of the lawmakers.

“Everybody should know that once the Supreme Court has made a pronouncement on a matter in any part of the country, you’re bound to comply, and if you’re going to take any decision, you must study the judgment critically,” he said.

Similarly, the PDP National Working Committee (NWC) has directed its Legal Adviser, Kamaldeen Ajibad, to commence appropriate legal action against the defection of the 27 lawmakers.

The PDP, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, on Wednesday, said at its NWC’s 580th meeting, it thoroughly reviewed the state of the party in Rivers.

Ologunagba disclosed that the party has formally informed INEC of the vacancies in the Rivers House of Assembly as a result of the defection. He insisted that by virtue of Section 109 (1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution as amended, the lawmakers have vacated their seats.

The embattled APC chairman in Rivers, Emeka Beke, has stated that his party would not accept the 27 lawmakers who defected from PDP. Beke said his position stems from the fact that the intentions of the defectors were not genuine, rather they were moving to destroy APC. He said the party would welcome the 27 lawmakers if they show good intentions for APC.

He said: “As the APC chairman, duly elected, I am not aware that anybody has defected to our party. They know that APC has a process to accept defectors. They will have to go to the ward level to indicate their interest before they can come to the centre.

“Politics is grassroots-based, so they must indicate their interest at the local level. We will not accept them. These are the same set of people that worked to destroy our party. They are the people who attacked former President Muhammadu Buhari, President Bola Tinubu and other leaders of APC when they visited Rivers during the formative stage and now they want to come over here, we will not accept them. But if their interest is for good we will accept them.”

AMID the hullabaloo, the Federal Government has distanced itself from the unfolding political impasse in Rivers involving Wike, his loyalists and Fubara, declaring that the former governor’s political position is not shared by the central government.

Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, made the declaration in a chat with State House correspondents shortly after he joined his colleagues to brief on the outcome of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) at the presidential villa in Abuja.

Asked whether the Federal Government shares Wike’s position on the matter as a member of the federal cabinet, the Information minister stated: “Well, he is a federal cabinet member; he is involved in the situation in the state. That cannot be a Federal Government position.

“The government will ensure there is peace and stability for all Nigerians, including River State, but you can’t say that this is a creation of the Federal Government. The Federal Government never had any hand in creating that problem.”

On the allegation raised by Asari Dokubo, accusing President Bola TInubu of ignoring the festering crisis in the state, the Minister noted that what the leader of the Niger Delta Volunteer Force said is only advisory.

“I saw Dokubo’s message. It was an advisory. He made an advisory. And when you make an advisory, you allow time to see whether the person you have given the advice will look at it again and come back to you. That does not suggest the Federal Government created that problem.”

Asari, in a viral video on Wednesday, said some Niger Delta people, particularly the Ijaw ethnic group, are already angry with the present government.

The former militant, who is a staunch supporter of Tinubu and APC during the electioneering season, lamented that he earlier assured the Ijaw people that the government would perform well.
He, however, alleged that the present situation has indicated that the Tinubu administration is a nightmare for the Ijaw people.

According to him, if there would be “any fire” as a consequence of the alleged bad governance, it would begin in Rivers. He said: “This is the worst government. Ijaw people feel this is the worst government. This is a nightmare for them.”

Meanwhile, an APC chieftain and former Director-General, Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside, has called on the Federal Government to intervene in the crisis rocking the state.

Peterside lamented that the state was gradually “sliding into total anarchy,” as he said the peace and development of the state had been sacrificed for selfish political gains, which do not favour the citizens. He noted that the defection of some lawmakers and the demolition of the House of Assembly display a “mockery of democracy.”

Describing the situation as one on a ‘knife-edge’, he said: “There is no better phrase to describe what my Rivers State has become other than a shameful state of anomie. We see there a ranked display of mockery of democracy and mindless destruction of everything democracy by the same people who should be defending it.”

A constitutional lawyer and lecturer at the Rivers State University, Prof. Richard Wokocha, said the law recognises only the four lawmakers who remained in PDP as the only legitimate members of the Assembly. He said there is no party crisis or other valid situations to justify the defection.