Fresh Tension in Rivers as Pro-Fubara Assembly Challenges Pro-Wike's Lawmakers

• The Rivers political crisis has raised new dust as Speaker Victor Oko-Jumbo-led faction of the state assembly kicked against the resolution of the Martin Amaewhule faction
• Martin Amaewhule-led faction barred Governor Siminalayi Fubara from spending public funds on Monday, July 15, over the failure of the governor to represent the budget before the house
• However, the Oko-Jumbo-led faction claimed that Amaewhule and 24 others were no longer members of the house, calling on INEC to conduct by-elections to fill their place in the house

Port Harcourt, Rivers - The Rivers state House of Assembly, led by Speaker Victor Oko-Jumbo and a faction loyal to Governor Siminalayi Fubara, has rejected a resolution by a rival faction led by Martin Amaewhule, loyalists of former Governor Nyesom Wike, which barred the governor from spending public funds.

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During the plenary on Tuesday, July 16, Oko-Jumbo described the resolution as unfounded and lacking legal validity.

Why Fubara should ignore Amaewhule threat - Oko-Jumbo

According to Channels TV, He argued that Amaewhule and 24 other former members who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in December 2023 are no longer members of the Assembly.

The Punch reported that the Speaker cited the constitution's section on defection, which he said is self-executing and was further enforced by a court-recognized Speaker, Edison Ehie, who declared the 25 seats vacant.

Governor Fubara presented the appropriation bill to the House, passed and signed into law under former Speaker Edison Ehie.

According to Oko-Jumbo, the house is now awaiting the presentation of the medium-term expenditure framework for the 2025 fiscal year.

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Rivers: Fubara's lawmakers asked INEC to conduct bye-elections

Oko-Jumbo urged the public to ignore Amaewhule's pronouncement and called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a bye-election to fill the 25 vacant seats in the house.

The Amaewhule-led faction had given the governor a seven-day ultimatum to present his budget before the House, leading to the shutdown of all expenditures on Monday, July 15.

The dispute highlights a deepening political rift in the Rivers State House of Assembly.

Pro-Wike lawmakers listed four constitutional breaches by Fubara

Legit.ng earlier reported that Martins Amaewhule-led faction of the Rivers state house of assembly has listed four constitutional breaches Governor Fubara has done.

The House pointed out that the governor had yet to send the 2024 budget to the legislature for approval, which is the constitutional procedure.

The lawmakers alleged that the governor constituted illegal council chairmen to manage the affairs of the state's local governments.

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Rivers crisis: PDP chieftain reacts as Fubara taunts pro-Wike lawmakers, mentions only solution

Proofread by Kola Muhammed, journalist and copyeditor at Legit.ng

Source: Legit.ng