Wike, Fubara fight returns to House of Assembly as both speakers sack each other again

…Each speaker orders INEC to conduct fresh election to fill vacant seats

The fight between FCT Minister Nyesom Wike and Rivers State governor Sim Fubara has returned where it began, the Rivers State House of Assembly, which has been quiet for some time now.

Following the Court of Appeal decision that Wike-backed Martins Amaewhule is the rightful speaker, the group has sat Tuesday, October 15, 2024, to declare the seats of the Fubara-backed speaker and lawmakers vacant and asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct fresh election in their constituencies.

In a swift counter, the Victor Oko-Jumbo faction of the RSHA has ordered INEC to carry out fresh election in the 27 state constituencies of the defected lawmakers.

Wike-backed camp takes position:

Sitting again Tuesday, October 15, 2024, the Wike-backed camp led by Amaewhule raised a motion to declare vacant the seats of the Fubara-backed lawmakers.

Debating the motion, the Wike-backed members spoke in unison in support of the motion to declare seats vacant, and sympathized with the constituents of those constituencies whose voices have allegedly been drowned in the House for about one year because of the abdication of legislative duties by their representatives.

Commenting on the motion, Amaewhule 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 four members be declared vacant, and the INEC be notified to conduct elections to fill the vacancies.

The affected members Ehie (Ahoada East II who has resigned and become chief of staff to Gov Fubara), Victor Oko Jombo (Bonny, now speaker for the Fubara camp), Adolphus Oruibienimigha (Opobo/Nkoro), and Sokari Sokari (Ahoada West.

Amaewhule reiterated that given the fact the Court of Appeal upheld all the injunctive orders given by the Federal High Court, Governor Fubara was again enjoined to present the 2024 Appropriate Bill to the House.

The House had been informed of the availability of the judgment of the Court of Appeal which upheld the judgment of Justice Omotosho of the Federal High Court that recognised the authenticity of the Rivers State House of Assembly under the Speakership of Amaewhule. The judgment has been rejected by the Fubara camp and appealed against.

Read also: Rivers state crisis: Democracy in the eye of the storm

Fubara camp counters:

Countering the action, the Fubara-backed camp led by Oko-Jumbo issued a statement from their own speaker’s office to reaffirm the declaration of the seats of the 27 pro-Wike lawmakers.

The Fubara-backed lawmakers restated its resolve that the Legislative seats of Amaewhule (speaker) and 24 (formerly 26) 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).

The Assembly, which said this in a statement signed by Oko-Jumbo in Port Harcourt, explained that the 25 Legislative seats were declared vacant on December 13, 2024, by the then legitimately recognised Speaker, Edison Ehie, and regretted that the 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 Fubara-backed speaker traced the origin of the vacancy of the seats from December 11, 2023 when the defection took place to December 13, 2024, when they deposed to an affidavit confirming their defection.

Oko-Jumbo said: “Truth and facts are constant, sacrosanct and indelible. The fact of the defection by Martin Chike Amaewhule and 24 Ors cannot be erased by pretenders like Martin Chike Amaewhule and his committee of friends.

“Today, the 15th day of October, 2024, Martin Chike Amaewhule and 24 others who ceased to be members of the Rivers State House of Assembly since December 11, 2023, purportedly declared vacant the legislative seats of Rt. Honourable Victor Oko-Jumbo and others. They have no such powers. This is an exercise in futility. It is a joke taken too far.

“As the 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.

The coming days and weeks will be full of tension and confusion as both camps assert their powers and rights no minding what the courts are saying because each camp brandishes a court ruling in its favour.