CJ, Assembly Clerk barred from endorsing resolutions of defected lawmakers
Two factions of the Rivers State House of Assembly held separate sittings, yesterday, with different agendas. The Victor Oko-Jumbo-led faction, loyal to Governor Siminalayi Fubara, screened and confirmed a new commissioner – nominee, Emmanuel Frank-Fubara, paving the way for his appointment to the State Executive Council.
Meanwhile, the Martin Amaewhule-led faction, which is loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, during its parallel sitting, issued an ultimatum to the governor to re-present the 2024 budget within seven days.
The dual sittings highlight the deepening rift within the assembly, as the political battle between Fubara and Wike’s loyalists intensifies.
While the pro-Fubara lawmakers held their sitting in an improvised hallowed chamber at the Government House, Port Harcourt, the pro-Wike legislators sat at the State Assembly official quarters, along Aba Road.
For the pro-Fubara lawmakers, a bill seeking to provide for the establishment of the Rivers State Emergency Management Agency and connected purposes was committed to an ad hoc committee.
Also committed to an ad hoc committee is a bill seeking to implement, regulate and coordinate a modernised and sustainable transportation system, as well as establish the Rivers State Transport Authority.
This followed a robust debate on the two bills, which are the Rivers State Emergency Management Agency Bill 2024 and the Rivers State Transport Reform Law 2023.
Leader of the House, Sokari Goodboy Sokari, emphasised the importance of the bill in tackling natural disasters, such as oil spills and fire outbreaks.
He said that the bill is crucial for state emergencies and disasters, emphasising that the bill, if passed into law, will help reduce incessant natural disasters in the state, while citing oil spills and fire outbreaks as examples.
Meanwhile, at its sitting, the Amaewhule faction handed a seven-day ultimatum to Fubara to re-present the 2024 budget to the House. The lawmakers drew the governor’s attention to his alleged breaches of the Constitution, specifically Section 192(2) and Section 7(1), as well as the Rivers State Local Government (Amendment) Law, 2023.
They accused the governor of swearing in unauthorised individuals as commissioners and local council managers, in defiance to the Constitution and court judgments.
Amaewhule also condemned the governor’s actions, stating that he was conducting legislative business with three suspended assembly members, despite a Court of Appeal judgment declaring their actions null and void.
HOWEVER, the Rivers State High Court, presided over by Justice Jumbo Stephen, has issued an order prohibiting Chief Judge, Justice Simeon Amadi, from implementing any resolutions passed by the 27 lawmakers who defected from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
In a new development, the court also issued a fresh order on July 8, 2024, restraining the Clerk of the State House of Assembly from giving effect to any resolutions passed by the 27 lawmakers, who defected from the PDP to APC.
