The supremacy battle between Victor Oko-Jumbo-led members of the Rivers State House of Assembly and 27 lawmakers, led by Speaker Martins Amaewhule, continued on Tuesday.
The three-,member House presided over by Oko-Jumbo raised a counter-resolution against the previous resolutions by the 27 lawmakers barring Governor Siminalayi Fubara from further spending money from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the state.
At their plenary, the three legislators said the Amaewhule-led House lacked the power to bar the governor from spending money.
Speaker Amaewhule had sent a letter to the governor on Monday intimating him with the resolutions of the 27 lawmakers.
But objecting to the resolutions, the three lawmakers sent a letter to Fubara to disregard the directives, describing the 27 members of the House as former lawmakers.
Copies of the letter were sent to the deputy governor, Prof. Ngozi Odu; Secretary to Rivers State Government, Head of Service, Accountant-General, Auditor-General, Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Chairman, Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, Accountant-General of the Federation, Group Managing Director of Zenith Bank PLC, and Managing Director of the Access Bank Group.
in its judgement had set aside an order of the state High Court, which removed Amaewhule and 24 others as lawmakers, for want of jurisdiction.
Although the court affirmed Amaewhule as Speaker, Oko-Jumbo and his two colleagues have insisted that the 27 had ceased to be lawmakers, following their purported defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Oko-Jumbo, who signed the letter, said Amaewhule and 24 others had no legal and moral basis to pass a resolution stopping the governor from withdrawing money from the consolidated fund.
He said it was wrong to pass a resolution that threatened a shutdown on government expenditure, pending the presentation of the Appropriation Bill for the 2024 fiscal year.
Oko-Jumbo said there was no basis for directing ministries, commissions, agencies, departments and extra-ministerial departments to desist from spending taxpayers funds, pending the passage of the budget.
He explained why Amaewhule and 24 others were not qualified to hold sittings and give orders to the governor, insisting that their seats had been declared vacant.
Oko-Jumbo said: “On December 11, 2023, at the 87th Legislative sitting of the House, former Speaker Martin Amaewhule and the 24 former members defected from the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“By virtue of Section 109(1)(g) and (2) of the 1999 Constitution, which are self executing, and consequent upon their defection, on the 13th day of December, 2023, Rt. Hon. Edison Ogerenye Ehie, as the then duly recognised Speaker of the 10th Rivers State House of Assembly, by virtue of a court order granted by Hon Justice Danagogo on the 12th day of December, 2023 in Suit No. PHC/3030/CS/2023, and pursuant to Section 109(2) of the 1999 Constitution, declared their seats vacant.
“Consequent to the above constitutional provisions and the declaration of their seats vacant, the recognised 10th Rivers State House of Assembly is the one led by Rt. Hon Victor Oko-Jumbo. Thus, the Rivers State Government has ceased paying any form of salaries, allowances or statutory remuneration to the former members.”
