The G27 faction of the Rivers State House of Assembly, led by Mr. Martins Amaewhule, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and the state government, yesterday, disagreed over the vacancy of seats in the House.
While Amaewhule said their seats are not vacant, because their defection from the PDP, to the All Progressives Congress, APC, was constititional and due to the crisis rocking the PDP in the state, the Rivers State government and the PDP disagreed.
This happened on a day an alleged draft of an Abuja court order backing the G-27 and commencement of impeachment process against Governor Siminalayi Fubara surfaced.
Amaewhule stated that the 4-man faction of the Assembly led by Edison Ehie cannot form a quorum and whatever they were doing in the name of the Assembly was null and void.
Speaking during a dedication service and stakeholders’ meeting of the APC in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, Amaewhule said: “We begged Mr President, the former president could not attend to the problems of the State, so we begged Mr President (Tinubu) that we have a problem. Look at the East-West Road; the Ogoni road unlike the previous president, the president gave us his words and said go back home irrespective of your party, I am a detribalized Nigerian. That’s what the president told us.
“We defected in line with the provision of the 1999 constitution, section 109. We didn’t do anything contrary to the constitution. We have evidence that there is crisis in the PDP. We have every right under the constitution to defect.
“We hear that some four persons gathered and are meeting somewhere we don’t know. Whatever they are doing, Rivers people should know it today the House of Assembly of any state is defined by the Constitution. The only way you can reconvene the House, you need to have quorum and quorum is 11. If you are not upto 11, anything you are doing is a family meeting.
Anything they told you they have done, ignore them. It’s null and void. The law is clear anything you are doing, you must do it in line with the dictates of the constitution and the standing orders of the Rivers House of Assembly. We are 27 in all. They are just four. So whenever we meet it is Rivers State House of Assembly that is meeting.”
Apart from crisis in the PDP, Amaewhule said other reasons they left the PDP include: “The East-West Road, work is on going and in no distant time that project will be completed. Access to the refinery, access to all the companies along the stretch of the road will be complete.
That is the president that says a thing and does it. Do you know what the president is doing since he became president, he has given appointments to Rivers people irrespective of parties. Mr. President for the first time gave a strategic appointment to somebody that is not from his party. It’s not only the appointment of the FCT Minister, he has given appointments to many Rivers sons.
“All the people he appointed are not APC members. The president shows that he is detribalised. So, in making a choice of which party to go to, this is a president that means well for the people. Let me inform you we have done investigation and we know that in the coming weeks, early next week, a lot will be done and we believe that when we have petroleum products refined in this part of the country, prices of petroleum products will drop. A lot of work is going on at the Port Harcourt refinery now.
“I did not say that everything is well in the country. The president has started well and the foundation is strong. The president needs the support of Nigerians.”
As Amaewhuke spoke, a draft of an alleged judgment in favour of the impeachment of Governor Fubara, to be delivered by a Federal High Court holden in Abuja on Monday, leaked.
The development has worsened the already ruptured peace between the government of the state and the former governor of the state.
It was gathered that the Federal High Court in Abuja in suit no FHC/ABJ/CS/1681/2023, had written a judgment to give powers to the 27 lawmakers in the Rivers State House of Assembly to impeach Fubara.
The suit was filed by the 25 lawmakers led by Amaehwule, who is standing as the first respondent
In the leaked judgment, the declaration of the seats of the 25 lawmakers vacant was voided.
It was learned that the draft was mistakenly shared, yesterday by a principal officer of a state legislator on a WhatsApp platform and it was hurriedly deleted.
