Janet Samuel, Abuja
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has urged the Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara to be submissive to the dictates of the Constitution and the rule of law.
The National Publicity Secretary of the party, , Barr. Felix Morka, who gave the advise while speaking with Newsmen said Fubara’s declaration that the Rivers State House of Assembly does not exist is a direct affront to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Governor Fubara and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had in a press briefing on Wednesday, May 8, 2024 argued that by Section 109 of the Constitution, the 27 House of Assembly members who defected from PDP to APC have forfeited their seats, hence declaring the state House of Assembly non-existent.
“To be clear, the 27 Assembly members did not lose their membership of the Assembly by virtue of their decampment. There is nothing homeostatic about Section 109(1)(g) of the Constitution. It is not self-executing. The Proviso to the said Section 109(1) (g) established exceptional grounds to the applicability of Section 109(1)(g)”
Section 109(1) states: A member of a House of Assembly shall vacate his seat in the House if –
(S.109(1)(g) – being a person whose election to the House of Assembly was sponsored by a political party, he becomes a member of another political party before expiration of the period for which that House was elected:
“Provided that his membership of the latter political party is not as a result of a division in the political party of which he was previously a member or of a merger of two or more political parties or factions by one of which he was previously sponsored.”
In any and all contests between Governor Fubara and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Constitution shall prevail, always. The good people of Rivers state deserve so much more than the seemingly unending chicanery of Governor Fubara”.
“The power of the purse resides in the legislature. If, indeed, the House of Assembly does not exist, as Governor Fubara has declared, then the Governor must necessarily shut down the entire government of Rivers state, especially the office of the Governor, as he lacks the authority to expend public resources without valid appropriations by the legislature.
“Governor Fubara cannot abrogate the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He cannot be governor and be despot-in-chief of the Rivers state House of Assembly, at the same time. Attempting to impose an illegal 3-man House of Assembly is executive lawlessness in the extreme. Governor Fubara’s quest to repudiate the Constitution and govern in denial of the existence of the state legislature is, in and of itself, among other grounds, an impeachable offense. ⁷
” We strongly counsel Governor Fubara to submit himself to the dictates of the Constitution and the rule of law. In any and all contests between Governor Fubara and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Constitution shall prevail, always. The good people of Rivers state deserve so much more than the seemingly unending chicanery of Governor Fubara”, he added.
