Oko-Jumbo to Amaewhule: “Joke Taken Too Far”

● Says Amaewhule,  24 others have no locus to determine status of legitimate Assembly members;
● Insists INEC must conduct bye-elections to fill seats already declared vacant

By PHC Telegraph

Given the run of events, the last may not have been heard about the bitter struggle which has dominated centrestage in Rivers State since last year over the leadership of the apparatus of state and control of the reins of the  PDP.

Nyesom Wike, Minister  of the Federal Capital Territory had declared war the day Governor Siminalayi Fubara opted to be his own man.

Despite the order of the President, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, asking anyone with any issue pertaining to the just concluded council elections to go to court, signs that the fight betweeen the Minister and the Governor which has left most Nigerians perplexed is escalating further have emerged.

This time, the faction of  the Rivers State House of Assembly populated by pro-Wike forces which secured a court ruling has renewed the proxy war.

Although an appeal was quickly filed against the ruling of the Appellate Court which sat in Abuja, the lawmakers at a sitting shortly after they got judgment openly declared vacant, the seats of legitimate PDP lawmakers who have remained loyal to their oath of office and the dictates of the Nigerian Constitution.

State lawmakers seen as loyal to the Nigerian Constitution and the Rivers people who appear to be overwhelmingly in support of the mandate that they gave to Governor Siminalayi Fubara were seemingly accused of failing to participate in the proceedings of the factional assembly.

A Joke Taken Too Far: 

 

But the Oko-Jaja led Assembly, consisting of lawmakers who did not abdicate their seats immediately reacted, saying it is ‘a joke taken too far.

It said that Martins Amaewhule and 24 others are not lawmakers, stressing that their seats remain vacant following their defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The Assembly also declared that the seats of the said lawmakers must be filled through a bye-election conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

“Please, recall that on the 11th day of December, 2023″, Speaker Victor Oko-Jumbo said in a statement on Tuesday, “Martin Chike Amaewhule and 24 others defected from the Peoples Democratic Party that sponsored their election into the Rivers State House of Assembly, to the All Progressives Congress.  Their defection was headline news and widely reported in print and electronic media.”

The Speaker further stated, “On the 13th day of December, 2023, the defection by Martin Chike Amaewhule and 26 others was further cemented in an affidavit deposed to by Martin Chike Amaewhule, when in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/1681/2023, Martin Chike Amaewhule & 26 Ors v. INEC & 5 Ors. in paragraphs 15 thereof, he deposed as follows: ‘That faced with the state of uncertainty and confusion in the 2nd defendant (Peoples Democratic Party) caused by division in the political party, the Plaintiffs were forced by the state of affairs within the 2nd defendant to defect and join the All Progressives Congress (APC).’

“On the 13th day of December, 2023, Rt. Honourable Edison Ogerenye Ehie, as then Speaker, declared the seats of Martin Chike Amaewhule and 24 others in the Rivers State House of Assembly vacant, and called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct bye-election to fill their vacant legislative seats. This has not been challenged and set aside by any court of law.”

He recalled how he was elevated to the position of Speaker and how his colleagues and himself have managed the affairs of the House.

 

“Subsequently, I was elected as the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly.  Myself and the Members of the Rivers State House of Assembly have been piloting the affairs of the Rivers State House of Assembly.

This, he noted, included “passing resolutions and screening various eminent persons as commissioner-nominees and recommending them to  His Excellency, the Governor of Rivers State to be appointed and sworn-in as Commissioners, among others.

“Truth and facts are constant, sacrosanct and indelible.  The fact of the defection by Martin Chike Amaewhule and 24 Ors cannot be erased by pretenders like Martin Chike Amaewhule and his committee of friends.”

Also reacting to the declaration made by the factional Speaker, Oko-Jumbo said, “Today, the 15th day of October, 2024, Martin Chike Amaewhule & 24 Ors who ceased to be members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, on December 11, 2023, purportedly declared vacant the legislative seats of Rt. Honourable Victor Oko-Jumbo and others as members of the Rivers State House of Assembly. They have no such powers. This is an exercise in futility. It is a joke taken too far.”

INEC Must Conduct Bye-Elections:

There are concerns in Rivers State over the delay by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC,  to conduct bye-elections to fill the vacancies.

The delay in replacing these lawmakers whose actions appear not to be consistent with provisions of the Constitution, some analyst’s say, may not be unconnected with the litany of cases that are in court.

There are however pronouncements of the Supreme Court on the issue of defections. Recent cases decided on by the  Apex Court do not support the self-serving actions of defecting lawmakers.

Invariably, it is possible that the somersaults that are being seen in the matter pertaining to Martins Amaewhule and 24 others, most especially their denial of a defection process that was properly documented, is a product of a growing fear of what may be.

However, Speaker Victor Oko-Jumbo had this to say, “As the Rt. Honourable Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, I call on INEC to immediately conduct bye-election to fill the legislative seats declared vacant on December 13, 2023.”

“I also call on Nigerians and the good people of Rivers State in particular, to ignore the vituperations and ranting of Martin Chike Amaewhule and his committee of friends.

“They are not members of the Rivers State House of Assembly not to talk of having the powers to declare vacant the legislative seats of legitimate Assembly members, who have remained steadfast and did not defect like them”, he added.

Matter of Constitutional Provisions, Not Numbers: 

 

President Bola Tinubu may have meant well when he offered a political solution to the Rivers political crisis.

In doing so, the President apparently glossed over constitutional provisions which indicate what should happen to those who dump their political party on the floor of the Legislature.

Could it be that he casually overlooked the consequences of a hurried defection as a result of a selfish feeling, a feeling that the APC would be the biggest beneficiary?

 

Strangely, these lawmakers who are back with a court order that is being challenged are either acting smart or are unaware of the gravity ofvthe step they took.

Section 109 1(g) is clear on what should happen to defecting lawmakers. It says 1(g),  “being a person whose election to the House of Assembly was sponsored by a political party, he becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that House was elected:

“Provided that his membership of the latter political party is not as a result of a division in the political party of which he was previously a member or of a merger of two or more political parties or factions by one of which he was previously sponsored”.

This would mean that if Amaewhule and 24 others are found culpable and evicted from the House, the number of lawmakers whose seats are vacated will in no way affect the conduct of legislative activities.