In what looks like moves to stamp its authority and control of the state, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Monday, said it would write the Independent National Election (INEC) today (Tuesday) to demand fresh elections to replace its 27 members in the Rivers State House of Assembly who defected to the All Progressives Congress.
It would be recalled that on Monday, a total of 27 members of the House elected on the PDP platform defected to the APC and threatened to reject the requests of the state governor, Siminalayi Fubara, for approval.
The reason adduced for their defection, according to the letters written to the Speaker, Martin Amaewhule, and read on the floor of the House, was predicated on the division in the party as regards the tussle for the position of the national secretary of the PDP, which had made communications channels difficult.
Prior to the 2023 governorship election in the state, Nyesom Wike, then governor of the state, had reportedly bought forms for dozens of PDP stalwarts, including Fubara as governorship aspirants.
But Wike was reported to have picked Fubara, who was then Accountant-General of the state, a situation which created ripples among party leaders who said Fubara was not a politician and was not part of the struggle.
But Fubara and his predecessor fell apart a few months ago when lawmakers loyal to Wike moved to impeach the incumbent governor.
Amidst the crisis, a section of the state House of Assembly was gutted by fire.
The moves to impeach the governor led to a division in the House, with Speaker, Amaewhule leading the majority while House Leader, Edison Ehie, led another faction.
Adopting the prayers of the motion, the House in strong terms condemned the unlawful attack on members and the Rivers State Assembly as an institution.
They called on the state governor to without further delay hand over the factional Speaker, Edison Ehie, Chijioke Ihunwo, and others they termed suspects associated with the explosion at the Assembly.
While calling on the governor to immediately release funds meant for the management of the Assembly for the month of November 2023, they stressed that henceforth, the House would decline requests from Fubara for approval, since his actions were no longer in tandem with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and other extant laws of the state.
Reacting to the defection, the spokesman for the dissolved APC Executive Council in Rivers State, Darlington Nwauju, said the party had been vindicated by the defection of the PDP lawmakers.
Nwauju, while speaking to one of the correspondents on Monday, said the action of five executive members of the APC who went to court to suspend the now dissolved APC led by Emeka Beke and the party’s legal adviser, was done to frustrate the party and hand it over to Wike.
He said: “Now when we also said that everything that was happening was illegal and was orchestrated just to balkanize the APC in Rivers State and finally hand it over to the FCT Minister, people said it was a lie.’’
CSOs warn police
Meanwhile, the coalition of Rivers Civil Society Groups has warned the state Commissioner of Police, Olatunji Disu, not to take sides in the political crisis of actors in the state.
A spokesman for the group, Solomon Lenu, while speaking to newsmen, urged Disu not to follow the path of a former CP who allegedly aligned with acts of lawlessness in the state in 2013.
He said: “The Commissioner of Police and his men should remain neutral and obey the court orders in this matter by not allowing any of the two factions to gain access to the Assembly complex.
“We want peace in Rivers State and not anarchy. We reiterate that Mr President should caution his minister to give peace a chance and allow Governor Fubara to attend to his responsibilities as a governor who was duly elected by the Rivers people.
“Wike’s action may push us to move to Abuja and occupy his office in protest. This should sound as a warning to him and his lawmakers in the state.
”Lenu alleged that the FCT minister was hell-bent on throwing the state into anarchy by using lawless lawmakers in the state.
The INC alleged that the police gave protection to the Wike loyalists to hold a sitting against a subsisting court order requiring all parties to maintain the status quo and to take no official actions until further notice.
INC, in a statement signed by its President, Prof Benjamin Okaba, on Monday, said it was curious that despite previous interventions of Tinubu and other critical stakeholders, Wike was bent on ensuring the impeachment of Fubara.
“Mr President, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, we implore you once again to call Mr Wike and those Federal Government agencies and agents who are putting Rivers State at risk of anarchy, to order. Such elements are inimical to the stability of Nigeria sooner or later,” Okaba said.
Meanwhile, the Rivers State Executive Council on Monday deliberated and approved a budget estimate of N800bn for the government to spend in the 2024 fiscal year.
At the meeting, which was presided over by Fubara, at the Executive Chamber of Government House in Port Harcourt, the council also approved that the budget be christened, “Budget of Renewed Hope, Consolidation, and Continuity.”
Speaking to newsmen after the meeting, the state Commissioner for Information and Communications, Joseph Johnson, said N412bn was projected for capital expenditure while recurrent expenditure was N361 billion.
He stated: “We had the 5th council meeting of Rivers State. We deliberated on the Medium Term Expenditure Framework, which is usually a precursor to discussing the budget.
“An 83-page document was also presented, which has the budget estimate. The budget estimate for 2024 is N800 billion and it is tagged: “Budget of Renewed Hope, Consolidation, and Continuity.”
The Rivers State Government spokesman added, “Essentially, the budget is focused on some key areas with infrastructure taking the lead with N128 billion of the budget followed by Education, health and security.”
On his part, the Secretary to the Rivers State Government, Dr. Tammy Danagogo said the approved budget estimate was aimed at giving Rivers people a renewed hope that will guarantee the continued harvest of projects and human capital development.
Danagogo said, “We approved an estimated budget of N800,392,485,433.33 kobo, which we believe, by the time it gets to the state House of Assembly, the public will be able to see and understand all the projections and fundamentals.
“Basically, the essence of the budget is to give the people and residents of Rivers State the ‘Renewed Hope’ and to ensure that there is a consolidation and continuity in what has been happening in terms of the harvest of projects we have been having in the State and of course other areas, particularly in human capital development, security, investment drive and ease of doing business.”
