The Rivers Assembly loyal to Governor Siminialayi Fubara has insisted that the seats of Speaker, Martin Chike Amaewhule and 24 others remain vacant following their alleged defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The lawmakers said their seats must be filled
through a bye-election conducted by the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) adding that the Amaewhule-led House lacked the powers to
declare their seats vacant.
The lawmakers in a statement by their Speaker,
Victor Oko-Jumbo, in his office on Tuesday in Port Harcourt, explained that the
25 legislative seats were declared vacant on December 13, 2024, by Edison Ehie,
and regretted that the commission had been foot-dragging on the conduct of
bye-election to fill the vacant seats.
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”.
Oko-Jumbo said that the inability of INEC to
do the needful since December 13, 2023, had created room for unnecessary
distractions from Amaewhule and called on the commission to discharge its
constitutional responsibilities to the people of the state.
Oko-Jumbo said: “Please, recall that on the
11th day of December, 2023, 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
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