In the ongoing political conflict within the Rivers State House of Assembly, the faction led by Victor Oko-Jumbo, loyal to Governor Siminalayi Fubara, has rejected the resolution passed by the Martin Amaewhule-led Assembly.
News About Nigeria reports that this resolution attempted to bar the governor and the state government from accessing funds from the state’s Consolidated Revenue Fund.
Following the expiration of a seven-day ultimatum given to Governor Fubara to re-present the 2024 state budget, the Amaewhule-led Assembly moved to halt all state expenditures until compliance.
This ultimatum, issued on July 8, has not been adhered to by the governor, prompting the legislative shutdown.
Governor Fubara had initially presented the budget to a faction of the Assembly loyal to him in 2023.
This session was presided over by Edison Ehie, then the Speaker, and now the governor’s Chief of Staff.
The budget was passed and signed into law by the governor.
However, a critical element of a peace deal brokered by President Bola Tinubu in the previous year’s state crisis required the governor to re-present the budget to the Amaewhule-led Assembly.
Governor Fubara has refused, arguing that the 26 lawmakers who defected from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) had vacated their seats, making their legislative actions illegitimate.
In a statement issued by G. M. Gillis-West, the clerk of the pro-Fubara faction, Oko-Jumbo, dismissed the legitimacy of the Amaewhule-led Assembly.
He maintained that their seats were declared vacant on December 13, 2023, by Edison Ehie, the recognised Speaker at that time, following their defection.
“The House states as follows: On December 11, 2023, at the 87th Legislative sitting, former Speaker Martin Amaewhule and 24 former members defected from the PDP to the APC. By virtue of Section 109(1)(g) and (2) of the 1999 Constitution, which are self-executing, and consequent upon their defection, their seats were declared vacant on December 13, 2023,” Oko-Jumbo said.
Oko-Jumbo ridiculed the actions of the Amaewhule-led Assembly, their recent session and resolutions as illegal.
He insisted that the only legitimate legislative body in Rivers State is the one he leads, which has continued to receive all statutory allocations and discharge its financial obligations accordingly.
He further challenged the interpretation of Section 122 of the 1999 Constitution by the defected members, clarifying that Governor Fubara had indeed presented and passed the 2024 Appropriation Bill under the lawful leadership of Edison Ehie.
“The general public is, therefore, called upon to disregard and ignore those misguided former members and discountenance their illegal actions,”
Oko-Jumbo called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to expedite preparations for bye-elections to fill the vacant seats.
The position of the pro-Fubara Assembly has been communicated to key state officials, including the Deputy Governor, Secretary to the State Government, Head of the Civil Service, and the Accountant-General and Auditor-General of Rivers State.
