The Rivers State House of Assembly, led by factional Speaker Victor Oko-Jumbo, on Tuesday, rejected and nullified what they described as “baseless resolutions” passed by the Pro-Nyesom Wike Assembly faction led by Martin Amaewhule.
Wike is the Minister of the FCT and was governor between 2015 and 2023.
Speaker Oko-Jumbo, a loyalist of Governor Siminalayi Fubara, declared on the House floor that Amaewhule and 24 other lawmakers lack the legal authority and moral standing to limit the Governor’s fiscal powers.
Oko-Jumbo insisted that Amaewhule and 24 other lawmakers are former members of the House, having defected from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) on December 11, 2023, arguing that their seats were consequently declared vacant by former Speaker Edison Ehie, citing Section 109, Subsections 1G and 2.
He emphasised that consequent on the constitutional provisions and declaration of their seats vacant the only recognized 10th Assembly is the one led by him.
Recall that the Martin Amaewhule-led Lawmakers had on Monday, July 15 during their 4th Legislative Sitting, unanimously condemned the Governor’s spending from the state’s Consolidated Revenue Fund without an Appropriation Law, despite repeated warnings.
The Pro-Wike lawmakers, while expressing disappointment, stating that the Governor’s actions demonstrate a disregard for the Constitution and judicial rulings, they resolved to write to the Governor, notifying him of the immediate shutdown of all expenditures from the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
They, however, said they will inform the Federal Government, relevant agencies, banks, and local and foreign donor agencies of the development, advising them to halt transactions with the Rivers State Government until the 2024 Appropriation Law issues are resolved
However, Oko-Jumbo noted that Amaewhule and the 24 others hinged their resolution on section 122 of the 1999 constitution and empowered a State Governor to continue to make appropriations for six months from the budget of the previous fiscal year, where for any reason he is unable to present appropriation bill to the house, while stressing that Governor Siminalayi Fubara had since presented the 2024 budget to the Rivers State House of Assembly under the leadership of Edison Ehie and is awaiting the presentation of the medium term expenditure framework for the next three financial years.
Additionally, Speaker Oko-Jumbo appealed to the public to disregard and ignore the “unlawful actions” of Amaewhule and his cohorts, and also urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to promptly conduct a by-election to fill the vacant seats.