In apparent determination to stamp his authority as Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, on Thursday, stormed the residential quarters of the 32 members of the state House of Assembly, 27 of whom are believed to have commenced the move to remove him from office through impeachment on the orders of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
In November 2023, 27 members of the assembly, had served the governor with an impeachment noticed, a move which set off a flurry of political brickbats in the state, including the demolition of the multi-billion naira state assembly complex by the governor and the division of the legislature into two houses, with one led by Edison Ehie loyal to the governor, while that of the G-27 LED BY Martin Amaewhule, loyal to Nyesom Wike, Fubara’s predecessor and now Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Matters got to a head with the eventual defection of the 27 members originally elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) on December 11, leading to their seats being declared vacant by the five-man assembly of Edihe, which further heightened the tension.
It took the intervention of President Bola Tinubu, who brokered a peace deal between the two camps, which led to de-escalation of hostilities, with the assembly members allowed to remain and Edihe resigning his office as Speaker to take up the assignment of Chief of Staff (CoS) to Fubara,
But both sides picked up the gauntlets again recently following the vetoing of the refusal of assent by the G27 on some of the laws it made and the governor’s declaration within the week that the lawmakers were not existing in his own reckoning, leading to the APC directing the assemblymen to commence his impeachment.
In apparent move to push down his authority in the state, the governor led some of officials to visit the assembly quarters, which serve as the official residence for the 32 legislators of the state and also houses the temporary chambers of the Martin Amaewhule-led state Assembly since the demolition of the main assembly building.
After the brief tour the governor left to inspect the Emohua-Kalabari road, slated for inauguration as part of his upcoming first-anniversary celebrations next week, where he praised the contractors to doing a good job, while also highlighting the importance of the project to the economic and social wellbeing of the state.
Regarding assembly visit, Fubara tsaid it was to assess the facility in light of the emergence of the new Speaker, suggesting that some work may be necessary to be carried out there, adding: “Is Assembly not part of my property? Is anything wrong going to check how things are going on there? You are aware of the development, we have a new speaker and I went there to see for myself how things are for myself because there might be a few things that I may do there for the good of our people.”
Four lawmakers loyal to the governor, who had on Wednesday elected the member representing the Bonny constituency Victor Oko-Jumbo as their Speaker, said the new assembly boss sworn in at 10 am during plenary on Wednesday, was enthroned in line with the Standing Order of the House.