Rivers assembly dismisses pro-Wike lawmakers’ resolutions against Fubara

The three-member faction of the Rivers House of Assembly has dismissed a resolution passed by a rival faction barring Governor Siminalayi Fubara from spending money from the state consolidated revenue fund.

The three-member faction led by Victor Oko-Jumbo as speaker is backed by Mr Fubara, while the other 27 of them are pro-Wike, and Martin Amaewhule leads it as speaker.

The two rival factions have been holding parallel sittings after the Appeal Court reinstated the pro-Wike lawmakers as assembly members.

Mr Amaehwule-led faction on Monday wrote to Governor Fubara, “stopping” him from spending money from the consolidated revenue funds following the expiration of the seven-day ultimatum they gave to the governor to re-present the N800 billion 2024 budget to them.

The pro-Wike lawmakers had, at their sitting at the Assembly Quarters along Aba Road on Monday, said Mr Fubara violated the Constitution by spending money from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the state without an appropriation law, Punch newspaper reported.

Dismissing the resolutions at a plenary held on Tuesday at Government House, an alternative venue provided for the assembly by Governor Fubara following the demolition of the assembly complex, Mr Oko-Jumbo, the speaker of the three-member assembly said, the pro-Wike lawmakers lack the power to issue such order after their seats were declared vacant following their defection to the All Progressives Congress.

This is contained in a statement signed by the clerk of the assembly, G. M. Gillis-West, and emailed to PREMIUM TIMES by Governor Fubara spokesperson Nelson Chukwudi.

“By virtue of Section 109(1)(g) and (2) of the 1999 Constitution, which is self-executing, and consequent upon their defection, on the 13 December 2023, Edison Ehie as the then duly recognised Speaker of the 10th Rivers State House of Assembly, by virtue of a court order granted by Justice Danagogo on the 12 December 2023 and pursuant to Section 109(2) of the 1999 Constitution, declared their seats vacant,” Mr Oko-Jumbo said.

Mr Oko-Jumbo described the pro-Wike lawmakers as “former members” of the state assembly and called on the Independent National Electoral Commission to conduct a by-election in the state to fill the “vacant positions”.

Mr Oko-Jumbo said the assembly was waiting for the presentation of the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) for the next three financial years, pursuant to Section 10 of the Rivers State Fiscal Responsibility Law, No 8 of 2010, to prepare for the 2025 fiscal year.

“The general public is, therefore, called upon to disregard and ignore those misguided former members and also discountenance their illegal actions,” he said.

Governor Fubara had also, at the meeting, dismissed the seven-day ultimatum by the pro-Wike lawmakers. He said he was busy working on the state’s 2025 budget.

Backstory

The re-representation of the budget was part of the controversial peace deal brokered by President Bola Tinubu to end the political rift between Governor Fubara and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike, who is the FCT minister.

Governor Fubara had presented the N800 billion budget to the four-member assembly led by Edison Ehie and later signed it into law within 24 hours after the assembly considered and approved it.

Mr Ehie later resigned as speaker and also his membership of the assembly before Governor Fubara appointed him as his chief of staff.

The peace deal later collapsed after the pro-Wike lawmakers overrode Mr Fubara’s veto and passed some bills into law.

Following the endless rift between the pro-Wike lawmakers and Governor Fubara, Mr Oko-Jumbo emerged as the new speaker assembly through the governor’s backing.

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Mr Oko-Jumbo, shortly after emerging as speaker, obtained a court order restraining the pro-Wike lawmakers from parading themselves as lawmakers, but the Court of Appeal reinstated the lawmakers, stating that the state High Court lacked the jurisdiction to have entertained the matter.

Buoyed by their reinstatement and overwhelming majority, the pro-Wike lawmakers resumed sittings. They issued Mr Fubara a seven-day ultimatum to re-present the budget and subsequently barred the governor from spending funds from the consolidated revenue funds following the expiration of the ultimatum.