THE faction of the Rivers House of Assembly led by Martin Amaewhule has ordered a shutdown of all the state accounts managed by Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s government.
The lawmakers issued the order on Monday, July 15, after the expiration of a seven-day ultimatum they gave Fubara to present the 2024 budget to the House for a second time.
The House Leader, Major Jack, pointed out that the ultimatum had expired. Consequently, the House voted to shut down the Rivers State Consolidated Revenue Account, preventing the government from spending the state funds.
Amaewhule’s team is loyal to the former Rivers governor and current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Nyesom Wike.
The lawmakers issued the ultimatum at their first sitting, months after a High Court in the state sacked them.
Fubura ignored the order, resulting in the lawmakers’ directive.
Fubara had presented the budget to only five lawmakers loyal to him in December 2023, after 27 of the 32-member Assembly defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
He subsequently signed the budget into law, but the action was nullified by the Federal High Court in January 2024.
In a judgment on Monday, January 22, delivered by James Omotoso, the court mandated Fubara to represent the budget to the lawfully constituted House of Assembly under Amaewhule, describing the actions of the pro-Fubara lawmakers as null and void.
Similarly, the Court of Appeal in Abuja, had, on Thursday, July 4, nullified the expulsion of Amaewhule and 24 others from the Rivers State House of Assembly by the Rivers State High Court, stating that the lower court did not have the jurisdiction to grant the exparte order.
The ICIR reports that Wike and Fubara have been at loggerheads over who controls the PDP structure and other issues in the state.
Though a PDP member, Wike currently serves in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) government.
The feud had degenerated into nearly a physical combat between their loyalists and possible chaos was palpable in the state that President Tinubu had to intervene twice before tempers were calmed.
However, camps of both leaders have continued to threaten a showdown with each other less than a year when the two politicians were gambolling in the same political space.
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via [email protected] or @ije_le on Twitter.