The drama in the Rivers State political scene got heated up 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
Since the political crisis in the state started and coupled with the attack on the legislative building of the Assembly, the pro- Wike members of the Assembly have been using their legislative quarters for their ‘sittings’, while the pro- Fubara members sit at one of the auditoriums in Government House.
It was in one of such ‘ sittings’ on Tuesday that Amaewhule who still parades as the Speaker declared the seats of the pro- Fubara members 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.
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.
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“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.
