The Rivers State House of Assembly led by Victor Oko-Jumbo, has countered the resolution by the Martin Amaewhule-led House of Assembly by giving Governor Siminalayi Fubara the go ahead to spend from the government’s coffers.
The Speaker, Victor Oko-Jumbo stated this in his opening remark during plenary on Tuesday.
He said what Amaewhule and 24 others whom he described as former members of the House did, was unfounded and without validity.
The Matrix reports that Amaewhule led Rivers State House Of Assembly on Monday barred the governor of the state Fubara from further spending from the state’s coffers.
The move came following a seven-day ultimatum issued by the Assembly to Governor Fubara, demanding the prompt submission of the state’s budget.
In a letter dated July 8, 2024, signed by Amaewhule and sent to Fubara last week’s Monday, the House highlighted the governor’s actions that breached the Constitution.
READ ALSO: Rivers Of Crisis: Amaewhule-Led Assembly Shuts Down Expenditures By Gov Fubara
However, reacting to the development, Oko-Jumbo argued that the group had no legal capacity or moral basis, to bar the governor from spending public funds.
He insisted that Amaewhule and 24 others are not members of the Assembly, following their defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All-Progressives Congress (APC) in December, 2023.
Buttressing his argument, he said the section of the constitution which deals with the issue of defection is self-executing.
He added that the section was further made effective following the declaration of the 25 seats vacant by Edison Ehie, who was legally recognised by a court as the Speaker, before his assumption
He stated that the Assembly led by him, is the legally recognised section, which of course manages the statutory allocation of the house.
Oko-Jumbo explained that Governor Fubara had duly presented the said appropriation bill to the house when Edison Ehie was the speaker, and that same was passed and signed into law.
READ ALSO: Rivers Of Crisis: Again, Fresh Twists Emerge
He said that the house is awaiting the presentation of the medium-term expenditure framework ahead of the 2025 fiscal year.
He urged the public to ignore the Amaewhule pronouncement, and called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to without delay conduct the bye-election to fill the 25 vacant seats in the house.
