Passage Of Rivers Budget Null And Void, Pro-Wike Lawmakers Insist

Pro-Nyesom Wike’s lawmakers of Rivers State House of Assembly have described decisions reached by the pro-Governor Similanayi Fubara lawmakers led by Edison Ehie, particularly the passage of the budget, as null and void.

On December 13, Governor Fubara presented the 2024 Appropriation Bill of over N800 billion to the Edison Ehie-led four-member Assembly for consideration.

In a jet speed, the four lawmakers approved the budget barely 24 hours after it was presented. The budget has since been signed into law.

But Martin Chike Amaehwule, leader of the 27 lawmakers who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), said at a dedication service and stakeholders meeting of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Port Harcourt, yesterday, that the four-man group cannot form a quorum, adding that whatever they were doing in the name of the Assembly cannot stand. In fact, he said the lawmakers were only holding family meetings.

On the State House Assembly complex, he said they were not notified about the demolition or given the opportunity to move out their personal belongings and important documents from the complex.

Amaehwule explained that Fubara supervised the demolition of the State House of Assembly and the belongings of the lawmakers and staff of the Assembly were trapped inside the complex.

According to him, important documents, files, archives and personal belongings of the lawmakers and staff of the Assembly were destroyed during the demolition of the complex. But the State Commissioner of Information and Communication, Joe Johnson had said that the Assembly was demolished because of structural defects.

“As we speak the governor has gone to demolish the state House of Assembly, an edifice built with taxpayers money. He personally supervised the demolition of the complex not minding that our property, things belonging to members and staff of the Assembly were inside there and they were looting them. Documents, our archives, our belongings were inside the complex before the demolition.

“What the governor is doing is against the law. We hear that some four persons gathered and are meeting somewhere, but we don’t know what they are doing. Rivers people should know today that the House of Assembly of any state is defined by the constitution and the only way you can reconvene the House, you need to have a quorum and quorum is 11. If you are not up to 11, anything you are doing is a family meeting, anything they told you they have done ignore them, it’s null and void the law is clear about it.

“Anything you are doing you must do it in line with the dictates of the constitution and the standing orders of the Rivers House of Assembly. We are 27; in all they are just four so whenever we meet, who is meeting, it’s Rivers State House of Assembly.”

He said that the governor had stopped funding the Assembly and pointed out that the Assembly finance management autonomy bill would address the issues of withholding the funds belonging to the Assembly.

“As legislatures our job is to come up with legislation that will help the people of Rivers State. We have just passed the state fund management bill. That law grants the financial autonomy of the state legislation. What it means is that as soon as assent is given to that bill, we don’t have to run to the governor to beg for funds to manage the House of Assembly. Currently the governor has stopped funding the state House of Assembly but once the bill is consented what that means is that funding will come straight from consolidated revenue of the state.

“What the governor is doing by not releasing funds to the state Assembly is against the constitution. The governor has stopped funding the Assembly that is a misconduct on part of the governor,” he said.