THE Rivers State House of Assembly has accused the state governor, Siminalayi Fubara, of dishonesty and threatened to resume impeachment proceedings against him.
The House also accused the governor of breaching the Constitution.
The Speaker of the House, Martin Amaewhule, announced this on Saturday, March 30, in Port Harcourt, the state capital.
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Amaewhule was accompanied to the briefing by 26 members of the Assembly.
It is immediately unclear if all 26 lawmakers are among the 27 members of the state Assembly who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on December 11, 2023.
The state Assembly has 32 members. Five have been loyal to the governor.
The aggrieved lawmakers accused Fubara of not keeping his end of the bargain regarding the Presidential Peace Accord.
They said they had suspended their earlier notice of Fubara’s impeachment because they respected President Bola Tinubu and hoped the governor would have a change of heart.
They insisted that if the governor kept up what they called “constant Constitutional breaches,” they would reopen the impeachment process against him.
“Their new strategy is to use another arm of government, lobbyists, attack dogs and the mainstream and social media to bring the House to disrepute and consummate their agenda. In this regard, various individuals, groups, and media mercenaries have been recruited to actualise their objectives.
“The latest of the new groups recruited against the 10th Assembly is the Former Rivers State PDP Presidential Campaign Council. In a press conference on the 26th of March 2024, signed by Abiye Sekibo, this group inferred that the House is an illegal and unconstitutional Assembly,” the lawmakers stated.
They accused the group of lying against the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesome Wike, who, according to them, worked tirelessly for the victory of President Tinubu and Fubara.
They claimed that Rivers State remained the only state without an Appropriation Law and that the governor had abandoned the state’s laws.
“They must not forget that the Rivers State House of Assembly has the mandate of the people and that we swore an oath of allegiance to the Constitution to do the needful, including the Impeachment of the Governor as a last resort. So, if it becomes a last resort, in accordance with the law, we will not hesitate to do so because no individual is bigger than Rivers State, including the governor,” the members threatened.
They assured the people of the state of their commitment to stand up for them and urged the people to remain prayerful against what they described as tyranny and dictatorship in the state.
The ICIR reported on Thursday, January 25, that a court in Abuja remanded some Fubara’s loyalists over the vandalisation of the State House of Assembly complex.
Five supporters of the governor were charged before a judge of the FHC.
They were accused of being involved in the October explosion that destroyed the Assembly building.
The ICIR reported that Fubara claimed police and military officers shot at him on his way to the state House of Assembly in the early hours of Monday, October 30.
Fire engulfed the complex on Sunday, October 29, around 10 p.m.
It was subsequently quenched by the Fire Service and security agents, who prevented it from consuming the entire building.
The crises followed reports of the House’s impending impeachment of the governor.
A reporter with the ICIR
A Journalist with a niche for quality and a promoter of good governance