A HIGH Court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers state, has confirmed Edison Ehie as the authentic speaker of the state’s House of Assembly.
Edison Ehie is among the five lawmakers loyal to the Governor of Rivers state, Siminalayi Fubara.
Ehie was suspended and removed as leader of the House by his colleagues in the wake of the crisis at the House of Assembly.
The presiding judge, M.W Danagogo, on Tuesday, December 12, ordered Martin Amaewhule and Dumle Maol to refrain from parading themselves or meddling with Ehie’s duties as speaker of the state House of Assembly.
The court warned against forceful entry into the Assembly Complex using thugs or Police.
Ehie, a former majority leader, was impeached in October during the political crisis that engulfed the state.
According to the House speaker, Martins Amaehwule, Ehie was ousted because he failed to attend an Assembly sitting.
Ehie was elected speaker in October by a faction of the House after an attempt to impeach Fubara.
The ICIR reported that 27 lawmakers in the Rivers State House of Assembly defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Monday, December 11.
Under Amaewhule’s leadership, the defectors comprise members loyal to the state’s former governor and current minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
Moments after the defection on Monday, the lawmakers were seen waving the APC flag in viral videos on social media.
The 27 lawmakers are among the 32 state House of Assembly members.
The ICIR reports that the defection came on the heels of the political tension rocking the state party politics.
There have been fears in the state following news of a rift between Fubara and his predecessor, Wike.
Wike handed over to Fubara on May 29, 2023, after concluding his two terms of four years apiece. Fubara is widely believed to be Wike’s political godson.
Anxiety among people in the state was heightened in October when the state House of Assembly moved to impeach the governor, a day after fire gutted the state House of Assembly.
A reporter with the ICIR
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