Rivers State House of Assembly members loyal to Governor Siminalayi Fubara, have resolved to invoke the provision of the 1999 Constitution against their embattled 25 colleagues.
The lawmakers, who cautioned detractors from interfering with the administration of Fubara, however, urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct bye-elections to fill their seats.
Presenting a Motion on a matter of urgent public importance pursuant to Section 99 of the Constitution, House Leader, Hon. Sokari Goodboy Sokari, said the Martin Amaewhule-led former lawmakers by their actions, had continued to undermine the integrity of the House and violate Section 99 of the Constitution.
He prayed the House to take necessary steps to halt the unlawful gathering of the former members, who by defecting to another political party, had lost their seats.
Adopting the motion, the member representing Opobo/Nkoro State Constituency and Deputy Speaker, Hon. Adolphus Orubienimigha, urged the House to, without delay, hold the former members accountable and ensure that they faced the full consequences of the law, if they continued to parade themselves as lawmakers.
Speaker, Hon. Victor Oko-Jumbo, berated the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for refusing to conduct bye-elections into the vacant seats since December 11, 2023.
He recalled that the House had on the 14th of December, 2023, and 8th of May, 2024, wrote to INEC to conduct bye-elections to fill the 25 vacant seats but regretted that the request was yet to be granted, adding that another member from Khana had died last year, and his seat has remained vacant.
He, thereafter, called on INEC to, as a matter of urgency, ensure conduct the bye-elections so that other constituents can be represented.
Meanwhile, the Assembly has approved the appointment of five special advisers by Governor Fubara.
Reading a letter from the governor during its 64th legislative sitting, Oko-Jumbo, explained that the appointment of the special advisers into key positions would help accelerate development in the state.
The House, after deliberating on the request, approved the appointment of the five special advisers, and directed the Clerk of the House to convey the approval to the Governor for further action.
The House subsequently adjourned sitting to Monday, October 21, 2024.
In a related development, a political pressure group under the aegis of The Supreme Council for SIM Worldwide, has accused supporters of the Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, of inciting crisis in Rivers State.
The allegation was made during an emergency meeting held by the expanded national executive of the council, in Port Harcourt, the state capital, on Wednesday.
Speaking, a former Acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mrs Ibim Semenitari, stated that the recurring political crisis, has bedeviled the State and therefore called on “President Bola Tinubu to call the Minister of FCT to order, lest his activities in Rivers State discredit the administration.”
The group advised the FCT minister against alleged “stoking unnecessary crisis in Rivers State, as this may be overstretching the patience of Rivers people,” even as she noted that Wike was intolerant to even civil opposition within the state during his tenure.
“For someone who was governor of Rivers State for 8 years and has vowed to make Rivers State unstable for his successor, his reactions during the interview on Channels Television suggests his culpability in the mayhem that engulfed some parts of the state after the local government election.
“We wish to emphasise that appointment of the FCT Minister Nyesom Wike ought to bring hope and development to Rivers State rather it appears that the FCT Minister’s proximity to federal authorities has brought tension to the people of Rivers state.”
Appreciating the Rivers people for their consistent support for the administration of Fubara, the group appealed to them to “resist every attempt by a minute few whose clear intent is to confiscate the resources of the state by proxy for their selfish end.”
Blessing Ibunge
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