*‘Those Claiming To Be Assembly Members Are Not Existing’
THE Rivers State House of Assembly, at its 173rd legislative sitting on Monday, May 6, overrode the assent of Governor Siminialayi Fubara to pass the Rivers State Public Procurement (Amendment) Bill 2024 into law.
A statement issued by Mike Nwachukwu, a media aide to the Speaker, Martin Chike Amaewhule, titled, ‘Rivers Assembly Overrides Governor Fubara’s Assent, Passes Public Procurement (Amendment) Bill into Law,’ recalled that the House had passed the Bill on March 26, this year and transmitted same to the governor for assent, which he declined.
The statement added: “The Speaker, Martin Chike Amaewhule, reiterated the essence of the Bill, which is to secure taxpayers money and to ensure that taxpayers money are not spent on frivolities and twisted contracts.”
It added that the Speaker bemoaned a situation where due process was relegated to the background and contracts awarded without legal backing, noting that despite all the malfeasance, the House would continue to uphold the laws of Rivers State and the 1999 Constitution.
The Speaker, the statement said, stressed that if the governor continues to breach the laws of the state, the House would at the appropriate time take more stringent measures.
But in his reaction, Fubara took dismissed the action of the Amaewhule-led group of lawmakers, declaring that there is no House of Assembly in the state, insisting they do not exist anymore as lawmakers in the eyes of the law.
He criticised the attitude of the Amaewhule-led group towards his administration, warning that the members would cease to exist as legislators if he so decides, adding that they are existing because of his recognition based on the peace accord initiated by President Bola Tinubu following the political crisis involving him and his mentor, godfather and current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.
Speaking when he received on courtesy visit, the Bayelsa State delegation of political and traditional leaders, led by a former governor of the state, Senator Henry Seriake Dickson, at Government House, Port Harcourt, on Monday, May 6, Fubara stated: “Let me say it here, those group of men who claim that they are assembly members, they are not existing. I want it to be on record.
The governor said that the Amaewhule-led House does not exist as far as the law is concerned, maintaining that he had acted like the big brother in the crisis and not interested in destroying the ‘House’ so that meaningful development can continue to take place in the state, while securing tenable political relationship.
He noted: “I accepted that peace accord to give them a floating (soft-landing). That’s the truth.”
Fubara alleged that Wike has rebuffed reconciliation, explaining that in seeking peaceful resolution to the political, he had attended several meetings, whose resolutions the other party had rebuffed.
“But I know that I have always taken the path of peace. I have shown respect. I’ve subjected myself to every meeting of reconciliation for peace. And what happens, each time we come out from such meetings, we are faced with one thunder or lightening,” stated.
He recalled that since assuming office on May 29, last year, he has resolved to build on the existing foundation of development of past leaders, especially the immediate past governor, noting that it would have been out of the ordinary to engage in any political fight when there was so much work to be done for the state and its people as their governor.
While acknowledging Wike’s role in his political life and his emergence as governor, Fubara stressed: “I want to say this clearly, that we appreciate the role our leaders, most especially the immediate past governor, played.
“But that is not enough for me to worship a human being. I can’t do that.”
