Rivers of crisis: Amaewhule, Oko-Jumbo renew rivalry over Assembly leadership
…As Amaewhule faction declares seats of pro-Fubara members vacant
• INEC must conduct bye-election to fill seats declared vacant on Dec 13 2023 – Pro-Fubara group insists
From Chris Eze, Port Harcourt
The drama in the Rivers State political scene got heated up again on Tuesday as the 26 pro- Wike lawmakers in the state House of Assembly led by Martins Chike Amaewhule declared the seats of all the pro- Fubara lawmakers vacant
Amaewhule might have drawn courage from the recent Federal High Court verdict which threw out the appeal filed by Governor Fubara and directed the Governor to re-present the State 2024 budget to the Amaewhule led Assembly.
A statement signed by Martins Wachukwu, the Special Assistant on Media to Martins Amaewhule, Speaker and leader of the pro- Wike faction said that the seats of the affected members were declared vacant because they abdicated their responsibilities by not attending sittings of the Assembly.
The statement reads in part: “In compliance with the combined provisions of Section 109 (1)(e),(f) and Section 109 (2) of the 1999 Constitution as altered, the Rivers State House of Assembly on Tuesday, at its 56th Legislative Sitting of the Second Session, has declared (vacant)the seats of Hon. Edison Ogerenye Ehie, Hon. Victor Oko Jombo, Hon. Adolphus Timothy Oruibienimigha and Hon. Sokari Goodboy Sokari, representing Ahoada East II, Bonny, Opobo/Nkoro and Ahoada West Constituency respectively.
“Riding on the back of a Motion moved by the House Leader, Hon. Major Jack and co-sponsored by 25 other Members, that the seats of these 4 Members be declared vacant for their continued refusal or failure to attend and participate in Legislative meetings of the House, without just cause for a period amounting in aggregate, to more than one-third of the total number of days the House met in the First Session of the Tenth Assembly and for also being absent in the past fifty -six legislative sittings of the Second Session”
According to the statement, during debate, members spoke in unison in support of the motion, and sympathized with the constituents of those Constituencies whose voices had been drowned in the House for about one year because of the abdication of legislative duties by their representatives.
The statement further said that while commenting on the Motion, the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Martin Chike Amaewhule, recalled that after the peace parley that was held at the instance of the President, the House withdrew its impeachment notice on the Governor and also recalled the four suspended Members, yet they had obstinately refused to attend sittings of the House.
“When the Speaker put the question, the House voted in the affirmative that the seats of the 4 Members be declared vacant, and the Independent National Electoral Commission be notified to conduct elections to fill the vacancies.
“Rt. Hon. Amaewhule reiterated that given the fact the Court of Appeal upheld all the injunctive orders given by the Federal High Court, Governor Siminialayi Fubara is again enjoined to present the 2024 Appropriate Bill to the House”, the statement added
Earlier, the Leader of the House, Hon. Major Jack had informed the House that he was in receipt of the Judgement of the Court of Appeal which upheld the judgement of Justice Omotosho of the Federal High Court which recognized the authenticity of the Rivers State House of Assembly under the Speakership of Rt. Hon. Martin Amaewhule, which was appealed against by Governor Fubara.
The Leader, laid the document on the table and was received and adopted by the House as a working document
However in a swift reaction to the declaration of their seats vacant, the Rt Hon Victor Oko- Jumbo led pro- Fubara lawmakers restated their position that the “Legislative seats of former Speaker, Martin Chike Amaewhule and 24 others remain vacant following their defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), and must be filled through a bye-election conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)”
Oko-Jumbo in a statement he signed as Speaker in his office on Tuesday in Port Harcourt, explained that the 25 Legislative seats were declared vacant on December 13, 2024, by the then “legitimately recognised Speaker”, Rt. Hon. Edison Ehie, and regretted that the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) has been foot-dragging on the conduct of bye-election to fill the vacant seats.
He said that the inability of INEC to do the needful since December 13, 2023, has created room for unnecessary distractions from Amaewhule and his” committee of friends”, and called on the commission to discharge its constitutional responsibilities to the people of the State.
The Speaker said, “Please, recall that on the 11th day of December, 2023, Martin Chike Amaewhule and 24 others defected from the Peoples Democratic Party that sponsored their election into the Rivers State House of Assembly, to the All Progressives Congress. Their defection was headline news and widely reported in print and electronic media.
“On the 13th day of December, 2023, the defection by Martin Chike Amaewhule and 26 others was further cemented in an affidavit deposed to by Martin Chike Amaewhule, when in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/1681/2023, Martin Chike Amaewhule & 26 Ors v. INEC & 5 Ors. in paragraphs 15 thereof, he deposed as follows: ‘That faced with the state of uncertainty and confusion in the 2nd defendant (Peoples Democratic Party) caused by division in the political party, the Plaintiffs were forced by the state of affairs within the 2nd defendant to defect and join the All Progressives Congress (APC).’
“On the 13th day of December, 2023, Rt. Honourable Edison Ogerenye Ehie, as then Speaker, declared the seats of Martin Chike Amaewhule and 24 others in the Rivers State House of Assembly vacant, and called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct bye-election to fill their vacant legislative seats. This has not been challenged and set aside by any court of law.
“Subsequently, I was elected as the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly. Myself and the Members of the Rivers State House of Assembly have been piloting the affairs of the Rivers State House of Assembly, including passing resolutions and screening various eminent persons as commissioner-nominees and recommending them to His Excellency, the Governor of Rivers State to be appointed and sworn-in as Commissioners, among others.
Oko- Jumbo stressed that “Truth and facts are constant, sacrosanct and indelible”, saying that the defection by Martin Chike Amaewhule and 24 Ors cannot be erased.
“Today, the 15th day of October, 2024, Martin Chike Amaewhule & 24 Ors who ceased to be members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, on December 11, 2023, purportedly declared vacant the legislative seats of Rt. Honourable Victor Oko-Jumbo and others as members of the Rivers State House of Assembly. They have no such powers. This is an exercise in futility. It is a joke taken too far.
“As the Rt. Honourable Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, I call on INEC to immediately conduct bye-election to fill the legislative seats declared vacant on December 13, 2023. I also call on Nigerians and the good people of Rivers State in particular, to ignore the vituperations and ranting of Martin Chike Amaewhule and his committee of friends.
“They are not members of the Rivers State House of Assembly not to talk of having the powers to declare vacant the legislative seats of legitimate Assembly members, who have remained steadfast and did not defect like them”, he added.
