Absurdities in the oil-rich Rivers State continued yesterday with Governor Siminalayi Fubara signing into law the 2024 Appropriation Bill, barely 24 hours after it was presented to the State House of Assembly – the fastest ever in the country.
The 2024 budget of N800.4 billion was on Wednesday presented to a four-man House of Assembly, led by Edison Ehie, which had immediately approved the same for the Executive.
Apparently not giving up, the 26 pro-Wike lawmakers also found a place at the Assembly quarters to reconvene the parliament despite their purported sack. Thus, two parliaments now make laws for Rivers State.
Meanwhile, the Attorney-General (AG) of the state, Prof. Zacchaeus Adangor, yesterday threw in the towel, with his resignation letter dated November 14, 2023.
The Attorney-General was said to have thrown in the resignation letter to save himself the trauma of being made to sign any legal instrument for Fubara, as a core loyalist of Wike.
Adangor, who also served in the same capacity during the tenure of Wike, said his resignation was in sync with personal principles. He, however, thanked Governor Fubara for the opportunity to serve the state under his administration and wished him a successful tenure.
Although a top official in the state, who asked not to be named given the tense political climate in the state, confirmed Adangor’s resignation, the state government is yet to make any official statement on the development.
It was gathered yesterday that the Commissioner for Special Projects, Emeka Woke, also announced his decision to quit. While Adangor, whose letter of resignation is now a public document, Woke’s letter is yet to be seen, nor has he made the reason for his resignation public. Both are also members of Wike’s kitchen cabinet.
Last night, the political crisis rocking Rivers assumed another dimension as four more commissioners officially resigned from their positions in the state executive council.
Besides the AG, the Commissioner for Works, George-Kelly Alabo, and his counterpart from the Ministry of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation, Inime Chinwenwo-Aguma, tendered their resignation letters on Thursday. The letter, dated December 14, was addressed to the governor through the Secretary to the State Government.
Alabo and Chinwenwo-Aguma’s resignations came hours after the Commissioner for Justice and Attorney-General, Adangor, resigned from his position. Also, the Commissioner for Special Duties, Emeka Woke, and Commissioner of Finance, Isaac Kamalu have resigned from Fubara’s cabinet. Those who have resigned so far are said to be strong allies of Wike.
According to observers, the resignations have signified the final realignment of forces before the final showdown, drowning calls for rapprochement. According to the governor, with the budget providing a framework for spending in 2024, his administration will undertake critical road projects that will connect more communities across several local governments to meet age-long yearnings of Rivers people.
He emphasised that the budget will be driven in a manner that will make a positive impact on the lives of all residents in Rivers because they will see and feel development at their doorsteps.
“I want to assure you that this administration has the best interest of our people. It is an administration that wants everyone to have hope. We have keyed into the Renewed Hope agenda of our dear President Bola Tinubu to continue to assure our people of hope. The best of us will be seen by everyone.
“We will continue to protect the interest of our people, do the best for everyone, not minding your position or class. Our government is a responsive and inclusive government. Our eyes and ears are open to the needs of our people. We will not disappoint you.”
However, it is yet to be seen how the governor’s lofty plans would not be derailed by the intense ‘Game of Thrones’ waged between Fubara and his godfather, Wike.
Despite their sack owing to their defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), the House of Assembly led by the Amaewhule faction, yesterday, through a motion, adopted and converted the auditorium of the House of Assembly Quarters as its hallowed chamber after the demolition of the Assembly complex on Wednesday.
This is as the lawmakers condemned what they described as the heartless and brazen demolition of the Assembly Complex by Fubara without their approval or knowledge.
The lawmakers, in a motion sponsored by 26 members and moved by Ofiks Kabang, representing Andoni constituency, drew the attention of the Federal Government, the Inspector-General of Police and the international community, to beam their searchlight on constant attack by the executive on the legislature.
The lawmakers as well passed the Rivers State House of Assembly Funds Management (Financial Autonomy) Bill, 2023 and the Rivers State Local Government Law, No. 5 of 2018 (Amendment) Bill, 2023 into law.
Also, the Rivers State Local Government Law, No. 5 of 2018 (Amendment) Bill, 2023 after a debate on the Report of the House Committee on Local Government, which was presented by the Chairman of the Committee, Ignatius Onwuka .
In his remark on the report, Amaewhule stated that the House decided to delete some sections of the law and amended some other sections because those sections were anachronistic and an anathema to democratic principles. He noted that with the passage of the amendment bill, elected Local Government chairmen and councilors would be liberated from arbitrary removals and suspensions.
Similarly, the Rivers state chapter of APC has described as illegal the decision by Fubara to present the 2024 budget to five out of 31 lawmakers. Chairman of the state caretaker committee, Tony Okocha, who addressed journalists at the national secretariat of the party in Abuja, also remarked that the purported moves to declare as vacant the seats of the 25 Assembly members that defected to APC is not only laughable but unconstitutional.
Okocha assured that APC would not only challenge what it termed the illegality perpetrated by the governor, but would do all within its powers to protect the interest of the 25 Assembly members.
The APC chieftain argued the decision by the lawmakers to defect to the APC was not an aberration since cross-carpeting from one political party to another was not only an acceptable practice but democratic.
He also faulted the decision by the Rivers State High Court in Port Harcourt, which barred the factional Speaker and loyalist of Wike, Amaewhule from going into the Assembly Complex until the burnt chamber is fully renovated by the state government.
He disclosed the party’s resolve to drag Justice M.W. Danagogo to the National Judicial Council (NJC) for allegedly granting what he termed a ‘Jankara’ judgment against the Assembly members that defected to APC.
A Rivers court presided by Justice Danagogo had granted leave to the factional Speaker, Ehie, to preside over activities of the legislative arm of the state pending the determination of a motion before it.
Speaking further, he noted that President Tinubu’s move to end the ongoing rift between Fubara and Wike has collapsed. He said: “I wasn’t part of it, but whatever that was, it has broken down, and it has been broken irreconcilably.”
Recall that Tinubu had before now made an attempt to broker peace between the two politicians. However, the crisis took a new turn with the demolition of the Assembly complex and defection of 27 members loyal to Wike to APC.
Okocha further disclosed that APC was wooing Wike to defect to the party. He said Wike would become the party’s leader in the state as soon as he became a member of APC.
MEANWHILE, a former governor of Rivers, Rufus Ada George, has called on politicians to embrace peace and cease using provocative comments in the interest of the state. The elder statesman, who presided over the state in the Third Republic between 1992 and 1993, made the appeal via a statement he signed personally.
“I am deeply pained and worried over these embarrassing events and flagrant demonstration of impunity, power, and lawlessness because of the grave danger they portend to the peace and security of Rivers state and Nigeria as a whole,” he said.
“As the oldest former governor of Rivers, I call on all former governors and their deputies to close ranks, come together, and collectively and frankly speak to our younger colleagues in the best interest of the state.
“Remember, we are duty bound to intervene in times like this by prioritising Rivers first and above all other personal, sectional, and parochial interests.”
