…As Pressure Mounts On Fubara From Wike’s Loyalists
Amidst calls on the State House of Assembly to impeach the State Governor, Similaye Fubara, by the All Progressives Congress (APC) Rivers with support from other political actors, particularly those loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), has told the Party to perish the thought of a forceful takeover of Rivers State.
National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Hon. Debo Ologunagba, said this at a media briefing in Abuja, Wednesday.
He was responding to calls by the Rivers State Chairman of the APC, Mr. Tony Okocha, asking members of the House of Assembly to impeach Governor Siminalaye Fubara.
The PDP said as long as it is concerned, the lawmakers being instructed to impeach the governor don’t exist in the eyes of the law.
It explained that they had forfeited their legislative seats on account of the decision to resign from the PDP, a platform on which they were elected.
Ologunagba said, “The attention of the leadership of the PDP has been drawn to a delusional declaration by the Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Mr. Tony Okocha, wherein he issued a hallucinatory directive that an impeachment proceeding be commenced against the democratically elected Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara.
“Such reckless and unwarranted statement by the APC Chairman in Rivers State exposes the vile desperation of the APC, which is roundly rejected in Rivers State, to use violence, coercion and bullying to undermine the WILL of the people and forcefully take over the State.
“The fact that the Rivers State APC Chairman, in his warped imagination, thinks he can direct impeachment proceeding against a duly elected State Governor not only shows the level of APC’s arrogance and condescension for the people of Rivers State but also further confirms APC’s desperation to forcefully annex their democratic rights under the Constitution.
“In any event, the individuals that the Rivers State APC Chairman directed to commence impeachment proceedings against Governor Fubara are not legally members of the Rivers State House of Assembly and cannot contemplate or exercise such powers under the law.
“These individuals, by virtue of Section 109 (1) (g) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) have since vacated and lost their seats, rights, privileges, recognition and obligations accruable to members of the Rivers State House of Assembly after their defection from the PDP, the political Party platform upon which they were elected into the Rivers State House of Assembly
“For emphasis, Section 109 (1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution provides that:
“a member of a House of Assembly shall vacate his seat in the House if … (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…”
The PDP Spokesperson further said, “It should be noted that Section 109 (1) (g) of the Constitution is self-executory.
“The import of this provision is that the members of the Rivers State House of Assembly who defected have vacated their seat by reason of that defection.
“The unlawful directive by the Rivers State APC Chairman to these individuals to commence an impeachment proceeding against the Governor is therefore a brazen call for anarchy as it amounts to an attempt to forcefully overthrow a democratic Order in clear violation of Section 1 sub-section 2 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
“For clarity, Section 1 Sub-section 2 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) provides;
“The Federal Republic of Nigeria shall not be governed, nor shall any person or group of persons take control of the government of Nigeria or any part thereof, except in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution.
“The PDP draws the attention of the Inspector General of Police to the subversive utterances of the APC Chairman in Rivers State which is capable of triggering crisis and derailing the Democratic Order in the country.
“The APC must perish the thought of forcefully taking over Rivers State as such is a direct assault on the sensibility of the people which will be resisted firmly.
“The APC Chairman in Rivers State should come to terms with the fact that Rivers State is home to PDP and that the people of Rivers State are not ready to put their destiny in the hands of a corrupt, oppressive and anti-people Special Purpose Vehicle like the APC.
“The national leadership of the PDP expresses appreciation to the people of Rivers State for always standing with the PDP and urges them to continue to resist the APC in its vicious attempt to inject violence and destabilize the State.”
PDP’s reaction came amidst impeachment pressure from political actors aggrieved with the Governor who has been at loggerheads with his predecessor, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory and immediate past Governor of the State, Nyesom Wike.
Wike is know to have built a formidable political structure with many political actors loyal to him pitching a tent against Fubara.
On Wednesday, Local Government Area Chairmen in Rivers State backed the call by the APC on the Rivers State House of Assembly to quickly commence an impeachment process on Fubara.
The 21 LGA chairmen in the state under the umbrella of Association Of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) Rivers State Chapter, said the call was necessary to safeguard democracy and instill the Rule of Law in the state.
Addressing pressmen in Port Harcourt yesterday, Chairman of ALGON in the state, Hon. Allwell Ihunda, who also is the chairman of Port Harcourt City LGA, decried that the Governor of the state has withheld allocation of the LGAs since April.
Ihunda said the development was a show of executive rascality on the part of the governor, noting that the governor has refused to convene the Joint Account Allocation Committee Meeting (JAAC) which is the prerequisite for the release and disbursement of funds between the state and LGAs.
He described the governor’s action as illegal, adding that the state was at the verge of being plunged into totalitarianism.
Ihunda said, “It has come to the notice of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) Rivers State Chapter that the Rivers State Government under the leadership of His Excellency, Sir Siminialayi Fubara, GSSRS, has neglected, failed and deliberately refused to hold the statutory Joint Account Allocation Committee Meeting (JAAC);
“… which is the prerequisite for the release and disbursement of funds due to the Local Governments in the State Joint Local Government Account and has continued to withhold the statutory allocation due to the 23 Local Governments Councils of Rivers State since the month of April, 2024 (and in the case of Emohua since March, 2024) till date for no just cause, thereby starving the third tier of government of the funds required to discharge its statutory functions in the administration of the Local Government Areas.
“It has also come to our notice that the Governor of Rivers State held a meeting with Heads of Local Government Administration (HLGA), Heads of Personnel Management (HPM), Treasurers of Local Governments and other Directors on Monday the 6th day of May, 2024 in Government House Port Harcourt whereat he directed them to go and compile for presentation to him of the salary vouchers;
“… and over heads of civil servants (excluding Chairmen, Vice Chairmen, Councilors and other political office holders), for the various Local Governments with a view to unlawfully dipping his hands into Local Government funds to pay staff salaries directly without the involvement of the democratically elected Local Government Chairmen.”
Ihunda noted that the Governor of the state is seeking to proscribe the system of Local Government guaranteed under section 7 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, noting that the action is tantamount to an illegal proscription of the Local Government Councils.
He noted that Fubara is flaunting the law of the land which he swore to uphold, calling on the State House of Assembly to take steps to cut the excesses of the governor.
“This conduct of the Rivers State Government which smacks of executive high-handedness and lawlessness is not only despicable and unconscionable in a democratic setting, but is also unconstitutional given the clear provisions of sections 3(6), 7 and 162 of the 1999 Constitution;
“…as amended which not only guarantees the system of Local Governments by democratically elected Local Government Councils across the Federation of Nigeria including in Rivers State, but which also vests the Local Government Councils with the right to receive statutory allocations from the Federation Account paid through the State Joint Allocation Account.
“It is even more worrisome to note that the Governor of Rivers State took the decision to withhold the statutory allocation in this case in flagrant violation of the subsisting interim order of the Federal High Court (Hon. Justice J. K. Omotosho (J) entered in suit No.FHC/ABJ/CS/537/2024 on the 25th day of April, 2024);
“…which mandated all the parties to the suit, including the Rivers State Government (who is the 7th Defendant therein) to maintain the status quo and not to take any step that will render the pending motion for interlocutory injunction before the court nugatory.
“We therefore call on the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and the Federal Government of Nigeria to intervene by calling the Governor of Rivers State to order with a view to avoiding a breakdown of governance, law
and order in Rivers State.
“We call on the Honourable Members of the Rivers State House of Assembly to take appropriate steps to check the excesses of the Governor of Rivers State and ensure the survival and sustenance of democratic institutions in Rivers State,” he said.
We’ll not vacate office after our tenure
Meanwhile, the Legal Adviser of the body, Chief Hon. Dr. Irastus Awoto, who is the Chairman of Andoni LGA, noted that the democratically elected Chairmen would not leave office, adding that the law empowers to stay additional six months in office.
Awoto said, “Yes, we got elected in 2021 and our tenure is to expire in June. But by now LG elections ought to have been concluded and the winners awaiting swearing in. The Assembly has seen that no action has been taking in respect of conducting an election and in their wisdom knows there shouldn’t be any vacuum and we have to maintain democratically elected Chairmen as in the local government law said until elections are done, this Chairmen will stay in office for another six months in the interim.
“As a matter of fact, in respect of this too we went to court, because the state government has not shown any attention as regards local government elections. What we are seeing is associates of the governor making comments that on thr 17th and 18th of June they are going to invade LG offices and they will bring everybody down. This is an invitation to anarchy.
“We as local government Chairmen we going to remain in office because the law as amended by the Rivers State House of Assembly says so. That law has given us additional six month and we will remain in office after the expiration.”