THE doors of the Rivers State House of Assembly were shut as Governor Siminalayi Fubara attempted to re-present the 2025 budget on Wednesday, March 12.
The drama unfolded when Fubara arrived at the Assembly complex, only to find the entrance gate locked.
Security personnel had secured the gates as the governor’s convoy arrived, citing the lack of official communication between the governor and the Assembly as the reason for their action.
However, Fubara claimed he informed the Speaker, Martins Amaewhule, of his intention to visit the Assembly through a formal letter.
He also said his efforts to speak with the speaker on the phone for days had proved abortive.
The ongoing power struggle between the governor and the Amaewhule-led Assembly has reached its peak after the Supreme Court’s judgment, which ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Attorney General of the Federation to suspend Rivers State’s statutory allocation.
The governor’s attempt to extend an olive branch by inviting the Assembly members for a peace talk was rebuffed, while he also failed to meet the 48-hour ultimatum to re-present the 2025 budget.
This development has further deepened the rift between the two arms of government.
The ICIR reported that the Supreme Court, in a judgement, affirmed the leadership of the Amaewhule-led Assembly, dismissing Fubara’s appeal challenging the leadership. The court also ordered the governor to pay N2 million to the lawmakers.
The ICIR reported that after the apex court ruling, Fubara invited the Amaewhule-led House of Assembly for a dialogue.
The request for the meeting followed the court judgment which recognised Amaewhule as the speaker of the state House of Assembly.
The meeting sought to, among others, discuss the provision of a befitting space for the Assembly’s sittings; payment of all outstanding remuneration or allowances of members; presentation of the 2025 budget and sundry matters; and any other matter(s) that might be necessary for the good of the state.
The ICIR reported that following the court’s ruling, the Assembly gave Fubara 48 hours to re-present the 2025 budget.
The judgment invalidated the previous budget presentation by Fubara to a splinter faction of the Assembly.
The court deemed Fubara’s presentation of an appropriation bill before a small faction of the Assembly as absurd.
It also annulled the recent local government election conducted in the state by Fubara.
Fubara had signed the N1.18 trillion 2025 appropriation bill into law on January 2 after presenting it to a four-member assembly led by Victor Oko-Jumbo.
The ICIR reports that Fubara and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike, currently the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), have been at loggerheads over who controls the PDP structure in the state, with President Bola Tinubu’s efforts to resolve the stalemate yielding no result.
Fubara has vehemently resisted Wike’s insistence on controlling the party in the state, with both leaders, who were allies before the 2023 governorship election, turning into arch-rivals months after Fubara assumed power.
At the onset of the crisis, 27 members of the state House of Assembly who were loyal to the former governor decamped to the All Progressives Congress – the party in which Wike serves as minister in Abuja.
In addition to declaring the defectors’ seats vacant, Fubara sacked all 23 local government chairmen elected under Wike and declared that their tenure had expired.
He went on to conduct a new poll, which the Supreme Court annulled.
A reporter with the ICIR
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