The protracted battle between Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State and his erstwhile godfather, Nyesom Wike, is an ill wind that blows nobody good. Worst still, the recent move by the Martins Amaewhule-led House of Assembly to halt the state’s expenditures may have signalled the state government as a red flag for business partners, ANN GODWIN reports.

The festering political crisis in Rivers State took another dimension last week as 25 members of the State House of Assembly who are loyal to former Governor Nyesom Wike, ordered the shutdown of all expenditures of the state government .

This development followed the expiration of a seven-day ultimatum they earlier issued to Governor Siminalayi Fubara to represent the 2024 budget of the state.

In issuing the ultimatum, the pro-Wike lawmakers led by Martins Amaewhule relied on the pronouncement of the Court of Appeal, which had on July 4, dismissed the ex parte order issued on May 10, 2024, by the Rivers State High Court, barring them from parading themselves as members of the state House of Assembly.

The pro-Fubara lawmakers had since approached the Supreme Court to address the matter.

At the sitting of the members last week, its leader, Major Jack, drew their attention to the expiration of the ultimatum given to the governor and raised the motion for the seizure of funds accruing to the state. He insisted that the governor had undermined the lawmakers by his refusal to re-present the 2024 budget.

Responding, the pro-Fubara lawmakers, led by Victor Oko-Jumbo, nullified the resolution by the Martin Amaewhule-led House of Assembly, describing it as unfounded.

Oko-Jumbo, who presided at the session announced that Amaewhule and 24 others lacked the legal capacity and moral grounds to restrict the governor’s spending power.

Recall that Fubara signed the N800 billion budget into law after it was presented to the Assembly led by the former Speaker, Edison Ehie, now the Chief of Staff, Government House, where it was subsequently passed.

Pundits have continued to discuss the latest development and its impact on governance and the economy of the state. Some analysts argued that the lawmakers loyal to Wike remained sacked because the Court of Appeal only ruled on the jurisdiction of the Rivers State High Court to hear the case and not the main substance of the matter, which is the legality of decamping to anotherparty.

The appellate court held that Section 272(3) of the 1999 Constitution as amended gives the Federal High Court powers to determine whether the seat of a House of Assembly member has become vacant.

It also held that the Federal High Court has the exclusive jurisdiction to determine the vacancy of a House of Assembly seat.

Former Deputy Speaker of the State House of Assembly Leyii Kwanee, while reacting to the development, stated that constitutionally, the governor has the right to spend monies of the state up to the last budget through appropriation law that has been approved for him.

He asserted that assuming they were even still members of the House of Assembly, the state could not shut down, stressing that the governor could spend up to the amount they approved last year.

Kwanee argued that in the context of Amaewhule, “one cannot place something on nothing and expect it to stand”, adding, “What the law says is that if you move from party A to B when there was no crisis, automatically, you have lost your seat in the eyes of the law, and they don’t exist anymore.”

In his argument, a Port Harcourt-based lawyer, Wori Wori, argued that Martins Amaewhule is the Speaker because no Court of the land declared his seat and that of the rest 24 members of the Assembly vacant.

Wori maintained that the matter of their alleged defection is still a subject of litigation, arguing that there is no faction in the Rivers State House of Assembly.

He said, “There is an existing judgment of the Federal High delivered by Hon Justice J. A. Omotosho, declaring Martins Amaewhule as the Speaker of Rivers Assembly.”

According to his interpretation of the judgment, “all actions purportedly taken by Oko Jumbo pursuant to the interlocutory orders of the Rivers State High Court is null and Void.”

But the reality is that while the crisis lingers and more judgments are being awaited, investors appear not to be willing to continue to wait and are likely to move to neighbouring states with a friendly economic environment.

A business mogul and top investor from the state who has partnerships with other investors across the globe, Tonye Princewill, said he was facing serious challenges convincing his partners that Port Harcourt is safe for investments.

Princewill disclosed that he has concluded arrangements to bring in investments in the area of agriculture and health to Rivers State that can create jobs, regretting however, that the toxic environment was making it difficult for him to convince his partners that the state is safe to inject their re sources.

The former governorship candidate in the state said, “I have built quite several partnerships but I think one of the prominent partnerships that I have built is the American Hospital Dubai. The hospital is one of the top hospitals in Dubai and they want to come to Africa. I am their partner in sub-Saharan Africa and it is my responsibility to take them to Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Zambia, South Africa, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Angola, you name them.”

He continued, “Their first office is located in Lagos, second in Abuja while the third office is expected to be located in Port Harcourt” but he lamented that he “is struggling to persuade the investors that Port Harcourt is the ideal location for them to establish their office.”

Meanwhile, a Political Sociologist at the Department of Sociology, University of Port Harcourt, Prof. Steve Wordu, has blamed the fresh crisis scenario in the state on judicial rascality.

He regretted that the judgments that have come out over the same period have not been able to terminate the matter and justify if Amaewhule and co are legitimate or not.

He said, “Even if the judicial recklessness has brought back the Amaewhule group, do they have power and legitimacy to stop a governor who has not been indicted for corruption or any wrong act, nor impeached from accessing funds?” he stated.

Wordu argued that attempting to stop the governor from accessing funds by the Amaewhule group is invariably saying basic services to the citizens should be halted.

He queried their conscience and interest in the state and the citizens pointing out that other states soon after elections, have moved on economically, adding that no matter the intendment of the law, “political leaders should act responsibly and this is to seek reconciliation to normalise the system to allow tolerance for government and governance to continue.

“It is very embarrassing to a lot of us that immediately upon that pronouncement and without due diligence to interpretation, Amaewhule group issued an ultimatum to the governor. It doesn’t reflect the majority in parliamentary duties. Parliamentary duties are not politics, it’s about making provision, using the laws and other legislations to promote the welfare of citizens.”

Wordu said the decision to stop the governor’s access to funds is not based on bringing reasonable benefits to the people but based on the “commandeer of power”, stressing that, “I am fatigued discussing Rivers State politics. The reason is that a lot of persons, politicians and intellectuals in Rivers State are somehow not yet prepared to solve the political problems in the state and one way of solving it is to give it a name and  I have called it, ‘state capture’ where few persons using their political influence, political position in government through which they have amassed so much wealth, used that wealth and that influence to control power; not only controlling power temporarily but seeking to dominate the political space and dictate what happens. So, that is the problem of Rivers State.”

He traced the ‘state capture’ problems to the period of former governors Peter Odili, Chibuike Amaechi and now to the Nyesom-Fubara crises.

He said that though Governor Fubara is a beneficiary of the ‘state capture,’ he (Fubara) has shown exceptional attributes by challenging the elements.

He argued that when a parliament acts in the interest of the people despite political differences, it is a responsible parliament but irresponsible when acted otherwise.

He, therefore, canvassed for responsible politics; politics that is targeted at making sure the process of governance flows irrespective of antagonisms within and among the political actors.

Similarly, another legal practitioner, Dr Chukwuma Chinwo, said the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is very clear on the matter.

He said, “People cannot arrogate to themselves what they have lost and what the constitution doesn’t give them right to reprobate and so they are no more members of the House and the matter they are saying is in court. But what they don’t understand is that it’s not in court whether they declared that they defected, that one is very settled”, he said.

He continued, “Assuming that they (Amaewhule group) were even in the House, the state cannot shut down, the governor can spend up to the amount they approved last year and all that.”

One thing in this battle since it started is that no week has passed without a new twist to it. It has dislocated people and resources, as well as impacted governance negatively.

The way it is, only time will tell how far the gladiators intend to go in this battle for the control of the resources of the oil-rich state. But Governor Fubara seems to have been enamoured to continue. His colleagues from the PDP who met in Enugu on Wednesday had thrown strong backing to him.