According to Vanguard, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State has declined to recognize Edison Ehie as the legitimate speaker of the State House of Assembly.
Remember that the assembly’s “activities and meetings” were scheduled to be moved to a more secure site, but that plan was delayed by a High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, presided over by Justice M.W. Danagogo.
The court also restrained the factional Speaker of the House, Martins Amaehwule, and 26 other lawmakers from disrupting and interfering with the Ehie-led assembly’s activities, pending the motion’s determination on notice.
Addressing a news briefing on Wednesday, the Rivers APC Caretaker Committee Chairman, Tony Okocha, asked Governor Siminalayi Fubara to refrain from acts capable of escalating the political crisis rocking the state.
Okocha criticized the court order recognizing Ehie as the speaker, stating that judgment was reserved for January 2024 on a suit he filed seeking to be recognized as speaker.
He argued that granting an ex parte order on the same case in which judgment had been reserved was an abuse of court processes.
Okocha alleged that the fear of the massive defection of 27 of the 31 PDP lawmakers to APC led to procuring an ex parte order to enable the governor to present his 2024 budget estimates to the assembly
He wondered how the Ehie-led assembly would legitimately receive the 2024 Appropriation Bill.
The Rivers APC chairman said that the party would be left with no option but to petition the National Judicial Council (NJC) immediately if the judge did not reverse himself.
He also stated that the state APC would not tolerate any intimidation and harassment of its new members in any form.
Earlier, the lawmakers allegedly loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the All Progressives Congress (APC).
In a recent interview with The Channel TV, Enemi Alabo, a lawmaker who recently crossed over to the APC, attributed the defections primarily to internal divisions within the PDP.
He lamented over his inability to establish communication with the PDP secretariat because of the ongoing legal disputes related to the party’s secretaryship.
The lawmaker also pointed to the burning of the Rivers Assembly chambers and the intimidation suffered by members.
Alabo explained that the lawmakers collectively decided to defect to the APC due to the challenges mentioned.
He cited Section 109 of the constitution, which allows for a party switch in the presence of a perceived division.
