Rivers’ Houses of Assembly sit, pass two parallel motions
…Insist INEC must conduct bye-elections
By Barth Ndubuwah, Port Harcourt
It was melo-drama yesterday in Port Harcourt, as two factional Houses of Assembly, headed by Hon Victor Oko-Jumbo and Hon Martin Amaewhule respectively sat and moved two parallel motions declaring the position of each other vacant and insisting that INEC must conduct bye-election to fill 26 vacant assembly positions already declared vacant plus 4 others.
First, it was the faction loyal to Governor SiminailayiFubara led by Hon Oko-Jumbo,in reaction to that of Hon Amaewhule who equally sat with his team and declared Hon Oko-Jumbo and his colleagues’ seats vacant.
The declarations read in part: “The Rivers State House of Assembly has restated its resolve that the Legislative seats of former Speaker, Martin ChikeAmaewhule and 24 others remain vacant following their defection from the People’s 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).
“The 25 Legislative seats were declared vacant on December 13, 2023, by the then legitimately recognised Speaker, Rt. Hon. Edison Ehie, and we wonder why the commission has been foot-dragging on the conduct of the bye-election to fill the vacant seats.
“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 for the House to discharge its constitutional responsibilities to the people of the State.
“Please, recall that on the 11th day of December, 2023, Martin ChikeAmaewhule 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 ChikeAmaewhule and 26 others was further cemented in an affidavit deposed to by Martin ChikeAmaewhule, when in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/1681/2023, Martin ChikeAmaewhule& 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 OgerenyeEhie, as then Speaker, declared the seats of Martin ChikeAmaewhule 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.
“Truth and facts are constant, sacrosanct and indelible. The fact of the defection by Martin ChikeAmaewhule and 24 others cannot be erased by pretenders like Martin ChikeAmaewhule and his committee of friends.
“Today, the 15th day of October, 2024, Martin ChikeAmaewhule& 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 ChikeAmaewhule 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.
On the other hand, Hon Martin Amaewhule leading the other faction loyal to the FCT Minister, NyesomWike, during their own sitting stated thus: “In compliance with the combined provisions Section of 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 the seats of Hon. Edison OgerenyeEhie, Hon. Victor OkoJombo, Hon. Adolphus Timothy Oruibienimigha and Hon. SokariGoodboySokari, representing Ahoada East II, Bonny, Opobo/Nkoro and Ahoada West Constituency respectively vacant.
“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,” the motion said.
Debating the Motion, Members spoke in unison in support of the Motion, and sympathised with the constituents of those Constituencies whose voices have been drowned in the House for about one year because of the abdication of legislative duties by their representatives.
Commenting on the Motion, the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Martin ChikeAmaewhule, 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 have 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.
“Given the fact the Court of Appeal upheld all the injunctive orders given by the Federal High Court, Governor SiminialayiFubara is again enjoined to present the 2024 Appropriate Bill to the House,” Amaewhule posited.
Earlier, the Leader of the factional House, Hon. Major Jack had under statement by the Leader, 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 recognised 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 factional Leader laid the document on the table and was received and adopted by the House as a working document.
As it is, Rivers’ citizens remain perplexed as to who to believe or obey, under the law.
Pundits believe until the Supreme Court intervenes by passing a judgement to clarify these intrigues, the incessant political crises in Rivers State will persist.
