The crisis in the Rivers State House of Assembly has taken a dramatic turn as the Victor Oko-Jumbo-led Assembly reaffirmed its stance that the legislative seats of factional Speaker Martin Amaewhule and 24 others remain vacant.
This development comes after the Amaewhule-led Assembly declared the seats of Chief of Staff to Governor Siminalayi Fubara, Edison Ehie, and three other pro-Fubara lawmakers vacant, citing their absence from sittings for 152 days.
Amaewhule stated that Ehie failed to properly notify the House of his new office, leading to the declaration of his seat as vacant. Additionally, the faction said Oko-Jumbo and two others were absent from sittings for 152 consecutive days without notification or permission, violating the 1999 Constitution.
In reaction, Pro-Fubara Speaker Victor Oko-Jumbo stated that the 25 legislative seats were initially declared vacant on December 13, 2023, by the then-recognised Speaker, Edison Ehie.
“Martin Chike Amaewhule 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,” Oko-Jumbo said. “Their defection was headline news and widely reported in print and electronic media.”
Oko-Jumbo expressed frustration with INEC’s delay in conducting by-elections to fill the vacant seats, criticising INEC’s failure to act since December 13, 2023, which has allowed “Amaewhule and his committee of friends” to create unnecessary distractions.
The statement bybOko-Jumbo read: “Please, recall that on the 11th day of December, 2023, Martin Chike Amaewhule 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 Chike Amaewhule and 26 others was further cemented in an affidavit deposed to by Martin Chike Amaewhule, when in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/1681/2023, Martin Chike Amaewhule & 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 Ogerenye Ehie, as then Speaker, declared the seats of Martin Chike Amaewhule 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 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 & 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 a by-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.