Rivers crisis: PDP moves to replace 27 pro-Wike Assembly defectors

Party leaders expressed disapproval of Wike’s alleged selection of Fubara, the state’s accountant general at the time, claiming that Fubara was not a politician and was not involved in the conflict.

However, when Wike-supporting MPs attempted to impeach the current governor, Fubara and his predecessor split apart a few months ago. A portion of the state House of Assembly was destroyed by fire in the midst of the crisis.

The House became divided over the governor’s impeachment efforts; Speaker Amaewhule led the majority, while House Leader Edison Ehie led the other party.

In response to the lawmakers’ defection, PDP National Publicity Secretary Debo Ologunagba stated in an interview on Monday that the party will investigate all possibilities to recover its seats in the state House of Assembly.

“We will write to INEC tomorrow (Tuesday) to make our position known,” stated Ologunagba, who characterized the PDP as a law-abiding party.

The PDP press secretary said, “You cannot pre-empt our steps and our party,” in response to a question about what the party would do if INEC denied its request. We comprehend and are aware of the law. We shall proceed one state at a time. You can count on the PDP to investigate every possibility.

In an earlier statement, Ologunagba claimed that the provisions of Section 109 (1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution as amended had rendered the seats of the corresponding 27 parliamentarians empty as a result of their departure from the PDP.

For the avoidance of doubt, a member of a House of Assembly shall resign from the House if, as a person whose election to the House of Assembly was sponsored by a political party, he joins another political party prior to the end of the term for which that House was elected, the party added, according to Section 109 (1) of the 1999 Constitution.

According to the Supreme Court’s understanding, Ologunagba said, the 27 defecting members had vacated their seats and lost all of their associated rights, benefits, recognition, and obligations as members of the Rivers State House of Assembly.

As the parliamentarians switched to the APC, the governor remained silent.

Regarding the lawmakers’ departure from his party, the governor, who chaired the state executive council meeting on Monday and oversaw the approval of the N800 billion budget estimate for 2024, remained silent.

When the state legislators decided to abstain on Monday, it was noted that the plenary meeting was held under tight police surveillance beginning at approximately eight in the morning.

Majority Jack, the House Leader and representative for the Akuku Toru Constituency, sponsored the Rivers State Local Government Law (Amendment) Bill, 2023, which was also given a second reading by the House during the session.

During the bill’s debate, all members agreed that certain parts of the main legislation, which were contrary to democratic principles, ought to be changed. This would guarantee that elected officials in local government were not subject to the whims and avarices of a single person.

The Speaker handed the measure to the House Committee on Local Government, directing them to have a public hearing and provide additional legislative suggestions in a fortnight.

Additionally, a motion to denounce the state governor’s refusal to turn over suspects who set fire to the Assembly’s hallowed chamber to security agencies and the seizure of funds for the Assembly’s management was adopted by the House, sponsored by 26 members and moved by Sylvanus Nwankwo, the member representing Omuma constituency in the House.

The House vigorously denounced the illegal attack on the members and the Rivers State Assembly as an organization after adopting the motion’s prayers.

They demanded that the factional Speaker, Edison Ehie, Chijioke Ihunwo, and other people they believed to be suspects in the explosion in the Assembly be turned over to the state governor right now.

In addition to demanding that the governor release funds intended for the management of the Assembly for November 2023 immediately, they emphasized that the House would no longer grant Fubara’s requests for approval because his actions were no longer compliant with the state’s current laws and the 1999 Constitution as amended.

The defection of the PDP lawmakers, according to Darlington Nwauju, the spokesman for the disbanded APC Executive Council in Rivers State, justified the party.

Nwauju said that the five APC executive members who sued to have the now-dissolved party suspended, together with the party’s legal counsel, did so in order to undermine the party and turn it over to Wike, in an interview with one of our journalists on Monday.

“Now when we also said that everything that was happening was illegal and was planned just to destabilize the APC in Rivers State and ultimately turn it over to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, people said it was a lie,” the speaker remarked.

CSOs alert cops

Olatunji Disu, the state commissioner of police, has been cautioned by the coalition of Rivers Civil Society Groups not to favor any one actor in the political crisis that the state is currently experiencing.

In an interview with reporters, the group’s spokesperson, Solomon Lenu, implored Disu to avoid going the way of a former CP member who had allegedly sided with acts of anarchy in the state in 2013.

He declared: “In this case, the Commissioner of Police and his officers should maintain their objectivity and follow the court’s directives by preventing either of the two sides from entering the Assembly complex.

“Instead of chaos, we desire calm in Rivers State. We stress that Mr. President ought to advise his ministry to prioritize peace and let Governor Fubara focus on his duties as an officially elected governor of the Rivers people.

“We might relocate to Abuja and take over Wike’s office in protest as a result of his actions. To him and his state legislators, this ought to serve as a warning.Lenu said that the FCT minister was determined to use the territory’s unruly MPs to plunge the state into chaos.

APC praises the lawmakers

However, the APC welcomed the departure of 27 members of the state’s 32-member House of Assembly from the PDP, which is currently in power.

A few hours after the 27 new converts were accepted at the party secretariat by the APC Caretaker Executive Committee in Rivers, there was cheering.

The APC’s national director of publicity, Bala Ibrahim, gave The PUNCH an exclusive phone conversation in which he ascribed the action to the party’s national chairman, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, having an open door policy and the political revolution occurring in Rivers.

It’s a state matter, he declared. On a national scale, however, we are keeping an eye. Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, the APC’s National Chairman, has made it plain to everyone who will listen that he is bringing an open door policy to the organization.

“It is also his goal to expand the APC’s base of influence in a way that will allow new members and solidify the existing ones.

“Ganduje’s goal is to reach out and invite anyone who may still harbor resentment toward the party’s operations to join Mr. President’s agenda of Renewed Hope.

This suggests that what is taking place in Rivers State is, in my opinion, an acknowledgement or gratitude for the offer made by the national chairman. Additionally, I believe that attending the party will be the start of something better.

But this is a state matter, as was already indicated. The APC, a progressive party, will accept new members as long as they are willing to contribute to the advancement of Nigerian democracy, regardless of the motivation behind the defection.

One of our correspondents was informed by Edwin Olofu, Ganduje’s media assistant, that this was evidence of the revolution and changes his principal had implemented within the party.

“We welcome new members at all times as a political party. The President and the national chairman of the APC have been doing wonderful things since they took office, and it is clear that people have noticed this, he stated.

Acting Rivers APC State Chairman Tony Okocha pledged the party would treat the 27 legislators with the same decency and respect as each and every person of the state during his acceptance address at the secretariat in Port Harcourt.

The Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike and his supporters were urged by the Ijaw National Congress to cease their efforts to remove Rivers State Governor Siminialayi Fubara from office by President Bola Tinubu.

The INC made this statement in response to what it described as the open support shown by security services to the Wike-supporting section of state lawmakers led by Martins Amaewhule.

The INC claimed that in defiance of an ongoing court order directing all parties to preserve the status quo and refrain from taking any official action until further notice, the police protected Wike loyalists in their attempt to have a sitting.

According to a Monday statement from INC and signed by Prof. Benjamin Okaba, the organization’s president, it was odd that Wike was determined to see that Fubara was impeached despite earlier interventions from Tinubu and other important parties.We humbly want you, Mr. President Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, to summon Mr. Wike and the Federal Government agencies and agents who are endangering Rivers State by allowing chaos to break out. These factors eventually pose a threat to Nigeria’s stability, according to Okaba.

A budget estimate of N800 billion that the government would spend in the 2024 fiscal year was discussed and approved by the Rivers State Executive Council on Monday.

Fubara chaired the meeting, which took place in the Executive Chamber of Government House in Port Harcourt. The council decided to rename the budget the “Budget of Renewed Hope, Consolidation, and Continuity.”

Following the meeting, state commissioner for information and communications Joseph Johnson told reporters that capital spending was expected to total N412 billion, while recurrent spending was estimated to be N361 billion.

“We had the fifth Rivers State council meeting,” he said. We discussed the Medium Term Expenditure Framework, which is often done before talking about the budget.

The budget estimate was also provided in an 83-page paper. The projected 2024 budget is worth N800 billion and is titled “Budget of Renewed Hope, Consolidation, and Continuity.”

According to a spokesman for the Rivers State Government, “the budget is essentially focused on some key areas with infrastructure taking the lead with N128 billion of the budget followed by education, health, and security.”

Dr. Tammy Danagogo, the secretary to the Rivers State Government, stated that the approved budget estimate aims to instill hope in the people of Rivers State, ensuring the ongoing development of human capital and projects.

The public would be able to view and comprehend all the forecasts and principles by the time it reaches the state House of Assembly, according to Danagogo, who stated that an anticipated budget of N800,392,485,433.33 kobo was approved.

“Providing the people and residents of Rivers State with the “Renewed Hope” and ensuring a consolidation and continuity in the harvest of projects we have been having in the State and of course other areas, particularly in human capital development, security, investment drive, and ease of doing business, is basically the essence of the budget.”