The Rivers State Caucus of the House of Representatives has called on the leadership of the lower legislative chamber to take punitive measures against their colleagues of the G60, led by Mr Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, over the alleged breach of their privileges.

The caucus, led by Mr. Dumnamene Dekor, in a statement on Friday, claimed that Ugochinyere’s actions outside of the House proceedings impinge not only on their privileges but the integrity of the House itself.

They also alleged that Ugochinyere’s actions constituted a reckless violation of the constitution, vide sections 49 and 72.

The caucus particularly accused Ugochinyere of putting himself forward as a veritable tool and an agent provocateur for a cause in Rivers State, which he knows nothing about and for no other reason except to feather his nest.

Consequently, the caucus called on the leadership of the Speaker, Tajudeen Abass-led House of Representatives, to take urgent steps to discipline and rein him in for gradually bringing disrepute to the House.

The caucus argued that Ugochinyere, who represents Ideato Federal Constituency of Imo State, has thrown caution, decorum, and responsible conduct to the wind since the start of the power tussle in Rivers State.

They thereby called on Ugochinyere to channel his energies towards addressing the developmental challenges in his home state of Imo rather than meddling in the affairs of Rivers State.

“His latest sponsored intervention is laden with all the ingredients that characterised all his previous outings: blackmail, half-truths, outright lies, misinformation, disinformation, and malicious propaganda,” the caucus alleged.

“In every instance, his prejudicial media statements also constitute a thoughtless assault on due process and ongoing judicial processes aimed at resolving the disagreement in Rivers.

“As our colleague who sits in the House of Representatives today courtesy of the judgement of a court, that is beyond embarrassing.

“As a caucus, we consider Hon. Ugochinyere an insignificant twerp in the social space and, particularly, in the grand scheme of Rivers politics. To begin with, he is not from Rivers State. So his political value is unquestionably non-existent, except to those who are naive enough to fall for his cheap gimmicks.

“Secondly, we had put Hon. Ugochinyere’s deplorable behaviour down to exuberant infantilism, which sometimes affects some new members, and had hoped that his apparent lack of understanding of his duties as a federal lawmaker would diminish as he grows into his new position.

“Obviously, we were wrong. One year into his term as a lawmaker, Hon. Ugochinyere has rather doubled down on infamy, dishonour, and disreputable behaviour, details of which we have at our disposal.

“The current situation in Rivers State does not concern Hon. Ugochinyere in any way because he is from Imo State, a state that is grappling with myriad political and social issues of its own in respect of which Hon. Ugochinyere cannot find his voice.

“The disagreement in Rivers has never been brought to the floor of the House of Representatives to warrant other members’ intervention in a debate.”