- ‘We Have A New Speaker, I Went To See For Myself’ – Fubara
- Clerk Insists Amaewhule Remains Speaker Of Rivers Assembly
- Adangor Bombs Fubara, Says He’s Not Interested In Making Peace With Wike
There appears to be no end in sight to the political crisis rocking the oil rich Rivers State as Governor Siminalayi Fubara and the Rivers State House of Assembly have once again resumed their hostilities, and this time, it is full blown.
While the governor has declared that the Rivers State House of Assembly has a new Speaker, the Clerk of the House, Prof Emeka Amadi has insisted that there is no change of guard in the Assembly maintaining that Martin Amaewhule remains the Speaker of the Assembly.
Fubara further stoked the fire of discord on Thursday when he stormed the Assembly residential quarters.
While he was asked the purpose of his visit, the governor said, “Is the Assembly quarters not part of my property? Is there anything wrong in going to check how things are going on there?
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“You are aware of the developments. We have a new Speaker, and I went there to see for myself how things are.
Fubara’s visit to the Assembly residential quarters comes a day after a factional Speaker of the Assembly, Victor Oko Jumbo, emerged.
Reacting to the emergence of Oko, the Clerk of the Assembly, Emeka Amadi, insisted that the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly remains Martin Amaewhule.
According to a “Disclaimer By The Rivers State House Of Assembly” Amadi said the three members of the assembly loyal to Fubara—Hon. Victor Oko Jumbo, Hon. Sokari Goodboy Sokari and Hon. Adolphus Orubimie Timothy—were suspended on October 30, 2023, and they cannot lay claim to be officers of the House.
The statement reads, “The attention of the Rivers State House of Assembly has been drawn to reports in the electronic and print media that there was a leadership change in the Rivers State House of Assembly on the 8th day of May 2024.
As the Clerk of the Rivers State House and one who administered the Oath of membership and office to all members and a custodian of all records of the House, I write to state the following:
That there was no change in the leadership of the House today and Rt. Hon. Martin Chike Amaewhule DSSRS remains the Speaker of the House while Rt. Hon. Dumte Maol DSSRS and Hon. Major Jack DSSRS remains Deputy Speaker and Majority Leader respectively.
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That apart from the seat of Khana Constituency which was declared vacant because of the death of the member who represented the constituency, no other seat has been declared vacant.
That there is a subsisting judgement of a court of competent jurisdiction in Suit no. FHC/ABI/CS/1613/2023 in which the Court among other orders granted an ORDER OF INJUNCTION restraining the Governor of Rivers State (11th Defendant) whether by himself or by his agents and or hirelings or in any manner howsoever from impeding or frustrating the Rivers State House of Assembly under the leadership of the 2nd Plaintiff as the Speaker of the said House in the performance of their functions including holding of meetings and the transacting of the business of the Rivers State House of Assembly’
That Hon. Victor Oko Jumbo, Hon. Sokari Goodboy Sokari and Hon, Adolphus Orubimie Timothy were suspended on the 30th of October 2023 pursuant to the Rules of the House and their suspension is yet to be lifted and they cannot lay claim to be officers of the House.
That the House Is still conducting legislative business in line with the Standing Orders of the House and the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as altered.
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That the good people of Rivers State and the Nigerian Federation should discountenance the media report purporting any recent change in leadership of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
Meanwhile, a former Rivers State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Prof Zacchaeus Adangor has accused Fubara of not being committed to reconciling with his predecessor, Nyesom Wike.
“He (Fubara) is not the person people think he is, he is not a peacemaker,” a furious Adangor said on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Thursday.
Adangor, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, said he resigned from Fubara’s cabinet in April because he refused to obey the governor when he allegedly asked him to institute suits to challenge the validity of the Presidential Peace Pact by President Bola Tinubu on the feud between Fubara and Wike.
The ex-commissioner said his ordeal with the governor started on December 18, 2023 after the Presidential Peace Pact in Abuja. He said the governor did not consult him before he was redeployed from the justice ministry to the Ministry of Special Duties.
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Adangor said his redeployment by Fubara was a consequence of his stance on the rule of law. He said he found his redeployment absurd hence his resignation.
The former justice commissioner said it was misleading that Fubara claimed that he sabotaged his administration while in office as attorney general.
Adangor said, “Politically, I am loyal to Wike, there is no doubt about that. I wouldn’t know whether he was angered by that or not. But as far as I remember, he (Fubara) was angry that I insisted on conducting a matter in accordance with the understanding of the law.”
Asked whether it was not a form of disloyalty that he was loyal to Wike when he worked for Fubara, the former attorney general said, “I never applied to work for Governor Fubara; I was invited to serve under him. Even after my first resignation on 14th of November, I never wanted to come back as a person but the President asked us to go back.”
He said the governor did not evince any genuine desire to have the feud between himself and his predecessor resolved.
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“I will give you two instances to show that he (Fubara) is not the person people think he is, he is not a peacemaker,” Adangor explained.
“I have been on leave of absence from Rivers State University, that’s my place of primary assignment. When I resigned on the 24th of April 2024, Fubara thought I would return to the university but I am aware that he had directed the management of the university not to allow me return to the university. That cannot be a decision taken by a person of peaceful disposition.”
Secondly, Adangor said the governor refused to sign the warrant of establishment of a customary court in his local community to “punish” him.
