The lawmaker representing the Bonny constituency and loyalist of Governor Siminalayi Fubara, Victor Jumbo, has been elected as the factional speaker of the Rivers state house of assembly.
This is the All Progressives Congress (APC) has called on the Martin Amaewhule led group who are loyal to Nyesom Wike, the minister of Federal Capital Territory, to commence Impeachment proceedings against Fubara.
Jumbo was elected on Wednesday by the lawmakers loyal to the governor, as the persistent political crisis in the state gets ever more intense.
In a video shared on social media, Jumbo said he had directed the clerk of the house to inform Fubara that a new leadership had been elected in the assembly.
The factional speaker said he is ready to work for the people of the state.
The Rivers assembly has 32 seats, out of which two are said to be loyal to Jumbo. One of the lawmakers, Dinebari Loolo, died in September 2023.
In October 2023, Ehie Edison was elected speaker of the factional assembly after his removal as house leader by members led by Amaewhule amid the plot to impeach Fubara.
Edison later resigned as a lawmaker to become chief of staff to the governor, while 27 lawmakers belonging to the faction of Amaewhule elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The lawmakers in the Awaewhule-led faction are loyal to Wike, and have been at loggerheads with Fubara.
On Monday, Fubara said the existence of members of the state house of assembly is based on his recognition.
The Rivers governor said members of the Awaewhule-led faction do not “exist,” adding that he decided to “give them a floating” through a peace deal initiated by President Bola Tinubu.
The face-off between the governor and the Awaewhule-led faction has made the assembly override Fubara on some bills recently.
Rivers APC asks assembly to resume impeachment proceedings
Meanwhile, the caretaker committee of the APC in Rivers has asked the state house of assembly to impeach Governor Fubara.
Addressing a press conference in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, Tony Okocha, chair of the APC in the state, accused the governor of “insulting” Tinubu.
“It’ll be foolhardy for us to sit down and see someone way less than Mr President insult him under our very nose,” he said.
“It is also an absurdity to see the governor espouse impunity and intimidation on people who are members of our political party, and we stand akimbo doing nothing.
“As representatives of Mr President we won’t sit here and see the governor insult the President. We won’t sit here to see the governor declare on his own as if he’s a court to declare Assembly members’ seats vacant.
“To that extent, in consultation with my party, we are directing APC members who are in the Assembly to immediately commence the impeachment of Governor Sim Fubara.
“And if they don’t do that, there’s what they call party discipline, and we shall invoke that section of the constitution and deal decisively with them.”
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