By Austin Ogwuda
THE 3-man Rivers State House of Assembly loyal to Governor Siminalayi Fabura, led by Rt. Hon. Victor Oko-Jumbo sat this morning (Friday), declaring that “we are the legitimate Members of the Rivers State House of Assembly (RSHA)”.
During the sitting, the Factional Speaker Victor Oko-Jumbo said, “we, the legitimate Members of the Rivers State House of Assembly hereby call on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to promptly conduct a Bye Election to fill the vacant seats in the Rivers State House of Assembly (RSHA)”.
“We strongly urge the general public to ignore Martin Amaewhule & 24 others in their pretense that they are members of the Rivers State House of Assembly”.
He stated that already, the State Assembly (3-man) is appealing the judgment delivered by the Court of Appeal on the jurisdiction of Rivers State High Court to hear the matter on suit number PHC/1512/CS/2024, describing it as “a miscarriage of justice”.
According to him, the House has directed its Legal team to urgently proceed to the Supreme Court to challenge the ruling by the Appeal Court.
He further clarified that contrary to speculations, the Court of Appeal did not make any declaration that Martin Amaewhule & 24 others did not defect from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressive Congress; neither did the Appeal Court also declare them as Members of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
He emphasized that there cannot be two Houses of Assembly in Rivers State or any State in Nigeria, pointing out that Amaewhule and his team despite all their pretenses are no longer Members of the Rivers State House of Assembly in line with the earlier declaration by the Rt. Hon. Ehie Edison which has not been vacated by any Court of competent jurisdiction.
At the sitting, two Bills, namely, the Rivers State Transport Company Reform Bill 2024 and Rivers State Emergency Management Bill 2024 passed through the First Reading.
