•New Assembly head nullifies actions of ex- speaker, asks gov to stop dealing with them
•PDP blasts APC over impeachment threat against Rivers gov
•Insists state lawmakers illegal before law
•Elders advise Assembly members to wait for court judgement
Chigozie Amadi
Rivers State’s unremitting political crisis assumed another twist yesterday, after lawmakers loyal to Governor Siminalayi Fubara upstaged the speaker of the House of Assembly, Hon. Martin Amaewhule, whose leadership was recently charged by the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state to impeach the governor.
In Amaewhule’s place, the Assembly elected Hon. Victor Oko-Jumbo as the new speaker.
The fresh threat against Fubara had come after he said recently that the lawmakers, who had constituted themselves as opposition in the state, did not exist in the face of the law, following a recent court order that nullified their seats after they defected to from Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to APC.
The development prompted APC in the state, led by Tony Okocha, to direct the Assembly to impeach Fubara.
The situation had since escalated in the state, with different interests rising in support of the governor.
The unsavoury state of play, THISDAY gathered, prompted the decision to elect Oko-Jumbo at the Assembly sitting held yesterday in Port Harcourt.
Subsequently, the new Assembly leadership declared all actions taken by members of the faction led by Amaewhule as void and a nullity in the eyes of the law.
It further called on Fubara to stop dealing with those it called former lawmakers, who had lost their seats following their defection.
At the same time, PDP, yesterday, slammed APC over its directive to the 27 lawmakers in the Rivers State House of Assembly to impeach Fubara, saying the party should perish the idea.
PDP reminded the lawmakers that, just as the governor had said, they did not exist in the sight of the law. It called on the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to be aware of those he described as subversive elements threatening democracy in Nigeria.
But some elder statesmen in Rivers State, yesterday, called on the lawmakers to drop the impeachment plan and wait for the outcome of the judgement of the Court of Appeal.
Addressing the Assembly, the new speaker said his emergence was in pursuant to the resignation of Hon. Edison Ogerenya Ehie and in line with Section 92(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
Oko-Jumbo and PDP thanked his new Assembly, with just five members, for the confidence reposed in him, and assured them that he would continue to work with them to move the state forward.
He stated that after the Assembly last sat on December 13, 2023 and adjourned sine dine, there had been an avalanche of legislative rascality perpetrated by the 25 “former” members of the 10th Rivers State House of Assembly, led by the former speaker, Amaewhule.
Oko-Jumbo emphasised that the former members were aware of the provisions of Section 109(1)(g) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999. He said following their defection from PDP to APC on December 11, 2023, Ehie, who then became the speaker on December 13, 2023, wrote to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), declaring the seats of the 25 lawmakers vacant in line with Section 109(1)(g) and (2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999. He stressed that there were numerous pending cases in the courts over the defection of the former lawmakers.
Oko-Jumbo stated, “All laws, plenary sessions, and actions taken by the illegal house are hereby declared void and a nullity in the eyes of the law by virtue of the judgement of Lord Denning in the celebrated case of MacFoy v UAC (1961) 3 All ER 1169, which held that ‘you cannot put something on nothing and expect it to stand’.
“If an act is void, then it is in law a nullity. It is not only bad, but incurably bad. There is no need for an order of court to set it aside. It is automatically null and void without more ado, though it is sometimes more convenient to have the court declare it to be so. And every proceeding, which is founded on it, is also bad and incurably bad. You cannot put something on nothing and expect it to stay there. It will collapse.”
The new speaker directed the executive arm, the judiciary, and the public to disregard every law purportedly enacted by the illegal Assembly, as they all amounted to nothing but an exercise in futility.
He stated, “Furthermore, this house would want to most respectfully urge and call on His Excellency, the governor of Rivers State, Sir Siminilayi Fubara, to stop dealing with the 25 former lawmakers, in whatever guise.
“Those members are merely floating and do not have any landing ground or anywhere to berth their ship since their defection to the All Progressive Congress on the 11th of December, 2023.
“This house is the legally and constitutionally recognised house by virtue of the defection, and is ready to receive correspondences from and work with His Excellency.”
Oko-Jumbo assured Fubara of the house’s “unalloyed and unwavering” support to work with him in moving Rivers State forward and in promoting the progress and welfare of the state.
Speaking with newsmen after the sitting, which held at 10am, Oko-Jumbo called on all Rivers people to support the government of Fubara, as the house was ready to give its best for the service of the state
Chairman of the Business Committee of the Assembly, Hon. Sokari Goodboy, assured the Assembly of their commitment to the advancement of the state, adding that they are ready to support the new speaker.
Goodboy urged Fubara not to have anything to do with the former members of the Assembly in order not to attract the wrath of the new Assembly.
Curiously, the Assembly Sergeant-at-Arms, Mr. David Wariboko, who the Amaewhule-led factional Assembly had suspended, was seen performing his duties with the new Assembly leadership under Oko-Jumbo.
Perish the Thought, PDP Blasts APC over Impeachment Threat against Fubara
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), yesterday, slammed All Progressives Congress (APC) over its directive to the 27 lawmakers in the Rivers State House of Assembly to impeach Governor Siminalayi Fubara, saying the party should perish the idea.
PDP reminded the lawmakers that they did not exist in law.
The party called on the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to be aware of those he described as subversive elements threatening democracy in Nigeria.
Addressing a press conference, National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Debo Ologunagba, stated, “The attention of the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been drawn to a delusional declaration by the chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Mr. Tony Okocha, wherein he issued a hallucinatory directive that an impeachment proceeding be commenced against the democratically elected governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara.
“Such reckless and unwarranted statement by the APC chairman in Rivers State exposes the vile desperation of the APC, which is roundly rejected in Rivers State, to use violence, coercion and bullying to undermine the will of the people and forcefully take over the state.
“The fact that the Rivers State APC chairman, in his warped imagination, thinks he can direct impeachment proceeding against a duly elected state governor, not only shows the level of APC’s arrogance and condescension for the people of Rivers State, but also further confirms APC’s desperation to forcefully annex their democratic rights under the Constitution.”
Ologunagba further stated, “In any event, the individuals that the Rivers State APC chairman directed to commence impeachment proceedings against Governor Fubara are not legally members of the Rivers State House of Assembly and cannot contemplate or exercise such powers under the law.
“The unlawful directive by the Rivers State APC chairman to these individuals to commence an impeachment proceeding against the governor is, therefore, a brazen call for anarchy, as it amounts to an attempt to forcefully overthrow a democratic order in clear violation of Section 1 sub-section 2 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).”
PDP drew the attention of the Inspector General of Police to the subversive utterances of the APC chairman in Rivers State, which it said was capable of triggering crisis and derailing the democratic order in the country.
Rivers Elders Advise Assembly Members to Wait for Court Judgement
Elder statesmen in Rivers State, yesterday, called on the state lawmakers to drop the impeachment plan against the governor and wait for the judgement of the Court of Appeal.
The views of the elders were made public yesterday on the Morning Show of ARISE NEWS Channel.
One of the elders, and National Coordinator, South-south Leadership Forum, Anabs Sara-Igbe, said he led nine others to institute a court case against the 27 lawmakers at an appeal court, and that the matter had been reserved for judgement.
Sara-Igbe called on the 27 lawmakers to wait for the outcome of the court case before ever thinking of carrying out an impeachment process against Fubara.
According to him, the seats of the 27 lawmakers have been declared vacant after they crossed from PDP to APC and, therefore, they have no powers to impeach the sitting governor because they are no longer lawmakers in the state.
He said in line with the country’s constitution, “The defected lawmakers are no longer members of the Rivers State House of Assembly. It is for this reason that I led nine other elder statesmen in Rivers State to institute a court case against the 27 lawmakers in an appeal court.
“We are saying that the document, which contains the eight point directives of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, which seeks to address the political crisis in Rivers State, and which Governor Fubara earlier signed, is illegal and will not stand.
“The 27 lawmakers are no longer members of the Rivers State House of Assembly. When a case is in court, the parties involved must respect the law and wait for the outcome of the court judgement. I expect the 27 lawmakers to understand this and obey the rule of law.
“They cannot be seen as breaking the law, when they are the ones making the law. They enacted laws to favour former Governor Nyesom Wike, and now they want to break the same law because it is no longer in their favour. The people of Rivers State are not happy about the development and we are in court to seek redress.”
