The Rivers State APC has urged House of Assembly members, led by Martin Amaewhule, to initiate impeachment proceedings against Governor Fubara.
The Rivers State branch of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has urged members of the State House of Assembly, led by Martin Amaewhule, to begin impeachment proceedings against Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
Mr Tony Okocha, the party’s Caretaker Committee Chairman, gave the advice yesterday during a media briefing at his headquarters in Port Harcourt.
The directive was created in response to the governor’s recent statement that Assembly members no longer exist legally. Okocha stated that no portion of the constitution enables the governor to declare assembly members non-existent. He reiterated that Siminalayi Fubara’s government is stupid and should not manage the state.
The APC chairman stated, “Every day, we find justification for our allegations that Sir Siminalayi Fubara’s government is the worst thing to happen in our political landscape, in our political history. Every other second, we are justified in asserting that the administration is dumb, directionless, and brutal.
The governor is further complicating the situation. “And, of course, you know that as the primary opposition political party in Rivers State, we will never sit down and let him do all of those things and get away with it; nor will we allow him to ride roughshod over us and the people of Rivers State. Related news:
“What the governor can claim he has achieved in 365 days is the issue of squandering Rivers money, one hundred and fifty million per LGA.”
Speaking on the Presidential accord over the state’s political turmoil last year, Okocha warned that the state party would not stand by while the governor continued to undermine the President.
According to Okocha, “The President is the leader of our own political party, and it would be foolish and idiotic on our part to sit down and see someone far less insult Mr President right in front of us. It is also ludicrous to see the governor begin to advocate for impunity and intimidation against members of our political party while we remain silent.
We are here to respond vehemently and stoutly, to say to you that as Chairman of the APC in Rivers State, as a representative of Mr. President, I will not sit here to see the governor insult the President, and we will not sit here to see the governor declare Assembly members’ seats vacant on his own as if he were a court.
The APC chairman, on the other hand, asked lawmakers who recently defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC to begin the impeachment process against the governor, threatening that if they fail to do so, he will exercise his constitutional prerogative and deal with them.
To that end, in consultation with my party, we have asked APC Assembly members to promptly begin impeachment proceedings against Governor Sim Fubara. Impeachment of a government that violates the rule of law.
If they do not do so, there is a provision in the constitution called party discipline, which we will use to deal with them decisively.
We will not sit here on behalf of the Rivers people and watch Rivers State become a laughing stock in the eyes of the world,” Okocha said.
In response, Mr. Joe Johnson, the State Commissioner for Information, stated that the APC chairman lacks the authority to direct lawmakers to begin the impeachment process.
He stated, “Tony Okocha by definition is an acting caretaker chairman and you know once there exists a caretaker, it means there is a substantive chairman of APC in the name of Chief Emeka Beke.”
Johnson cited Section 109 (1g) of the Nigerian federal government’s constitution, claiming that it had already abolished the existence of 27 lawmakers who switched from one major political party to another.
He remarked, “Because the APC lacks leadership. They have a leadership that is split between Tony Okocha and Chief Emeka Beke, so whose report should we follow?
So the governor was correct in stating that our own law, the Federal Republic of Nigeria constitution, states that once an Assembly member, not a House of Representatives, a governor, or the president, defected from the political party that brought him to power, he lost. “No court in our land can change it; once the constitution states something, it becomes law.”
He said, “What Tony Okocha is proposing is a smokescreen. He does not have the authority to direct. And let me guarantee you that the Rivers people will fight it until the end.