Twenty-seven members of Rivers State House of Assembly, led by Speaker Martins Amaewhule, have accused Governor Siminalayi Fubara of frustrating implementation of the Supreme Court judgement on the 2025 state budget re-presentation.
The lawmakers claimed that the governor was not willing to comply with the apex court order, especially the aspect requiring him to re-present the 2025 Appropriation Bill to the Assembly. They also denied receiving any correspondence from the governor on the budget re-presentation.
The media was awash last week with reports about the governor being locked out of the Assembly complex, where he had gone, allegedly, based on formal correspondence, to do the budget re-presentation, as ordered by the Supreme Court.
However, Chairman, House Committee on Information and spokesperson of the Assembly, Enemi George, who spoke to a select group of journalists, on Sunday in Port Harcourt, challenged Fubara to produce the acknowledged copy of the letter he claimed to have sent to the legislature on the budget re-presentation.
But in a letter dated March 7, 2025, from the office of the Secretary to the State Government, the speaker and all members of the Assembly were invited to a meeting with the governor at his office on March 10 to discuss, among others, the presentation of the budget.
The letter said the meeting would also discuss provision of a befitting space for Assembly sittings and payment of outstanding salaries and allowances of the legislators.
As the political crisis in Rivers State festered, Pan-Niger Delta Youths Forum (PANDYEF) called on President Bola Tinubu to leverage his authority and ensure lasting peace and security in the oil-rich state.
The appeal came as hundreds of women from the 23 local government areas of Rivers State called on Fubara to keep maintaining his peaceful disposition, despite the challenges he faced from detractors.
Similarly, stakeholders from the Ogoni ethnic nationality called for peace among the Ogoni as they continued to dialogue with the federal government ahead of the resumption of oil exploration in the area.
Rivers State House of Assembly called on members of the public to compel Fubara to follow the established due process in presenting the appropriation bill instead of playing to the gallery.
George said, “Last week, we were told that on his way to Ogoni for a programme, the governor made a stopover at the gate of the House of Assembly Quarters to grant an interview to the press.
“In that interview, he claimed that he had sent a letter to the House of Assembly indicating his intention to visit and present the appropriation bill, a claim we found rather astonishing, as no such letter was received by the House of Assembly.
“His aides later alleged that they forwarded a letter through WhatsApp to some members of the house, which was also awkward, unprofessional and embarrassing.
“As I speak, the social media space is awash with stories about a purported letter from the governor to the House of Assembly expressing his intention to visit the house to present the appropriation bill for the year 2025.
“Nothing can be farther from the truth. We want to state categorically that there is no such letter before the House of Assembly or any of its staff.
“We challenge the governor and his aides to produce an acknowledgement copy of such a letter or any evidence that such a letter was sent or received by the House of Assembly.
“It is absolutely untrue and unfortunate. The general public must, as a matter of importance, ignore such claim.
“It is now very obvious that if at all there was such a letter, the intended recipient was not the legislature, but the public, and the clear intention was to play to the gallery, whip up public sentiment, demonise the House of Assembly, and set the public against us. This is demeaning, denigrating and perilously unfortunate.”
George said the governor frustrated all the efforts of the Assembly to work with him to resolve the lingering crisis immediately after the Supreme Court judgement, particularly, on presentation of the Appropriation Bill, in the interest of the state.
He stated, “Recall, after the recent Supreme Court judgement on the budget of our state, it became absolutely necessary for the governor of Rivers State, His Excellency, Sir Siminalayi Joseph Fubara, to present the appropriation bill to the legislature for consideration and passage.
“Also, recall that immediately after the judgement, this house wrote to the governor, calling on him to immediately present the budget for speedy consideration.
“It was our hope that by the 15th of March, 2025, we would have concluded the process of passing the appropriation bill into law, so as to give us enough time to approach the federal government to release funds meant for our state, which have been seized by the judgement of the Supreme Court.
“This we did in the interest of our dear state and in pursuit of peace, recognising that no government can function optimally without a harmonious co-existence between the executive and the legislature.”
According to him, “This letter was rejected and the staff of the House of Assembly, who attempted to deliver the mails, were brutalised at the gate of the Government House and sent back.
“Undeterred by this, the house resorted to use a courier service to deliver the mail. The governor did not heed to our call, nor did he demonstrate any intention to.
“Recall, again, that the judgement of the Supreme Court invalidated the appointment of most of the commissioners of the state. To bridge this gap and avoid a vacuum, this house immediately wrote to the governor to submit the list of commissioners for immediate screening.
“Our letter was again rejected at the Government House and we once again resorted to deliver the mail through a courier service. Rather than heed our call, the governor instructed them to go to court against us, which they have now done.
“The governor went further to instruct all ministries, agencies and departments of government not to receive any correspondence from the Rivers State House of Assembly nor communicate with us in any manner.”
George said the governor must be reminded that the House of Assembly was not an appendage of the executive and its members were not his slaves, bondservants and serfs.
He said, “We are an independent arm of government in line with the principles of horizontal separation of powers as expressed in Section 4, Section 5, and Section 6 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended.
“It is in responding to the attitude that the supreme court said in its judgement: A government cannot be said to exist without one of the three arms that make up the government of the state under the 1999 Constitution.
“In this case, the executive arm of the government has chosen to collapse the legislature to enable him govern without the legislature as a despot. As it is, there is no government in Rivers State.”
George said the Assembly had hoped that such strong words from the Supreme Court would help “purge the governor of such despotic ways”.
As an Assembly, he said the lawmakers were severely solicitous of progress of the state, adding that one man should not be allowed to hold everybody in the state to ransom because of his ego.
George called on the governor to do the right thing in the right and lawful way to allow the state make progress.
He said the Assembly was the worst hit in the ongoing crisis, lamenting that the lawmakers have suffered untold hardship. The legislative spokesman insisted that the governor must be stopped from extending such punishment to Rivers people.
He said, “This Assembly has borne the brunt of this crisis. We have endured immense hardship. We have been battered almost beyond our carrying capacity.
“We have been punished unduly and unfairly for trying to perform our constitutional duties. Our governor must not extend this punishment to Rivers people. No, please, no. We must not allow it.
“We have seen hell: our hallowed chamber was burnt down by the governor. The House of Assembly Complex was brought down by the governor, totally demolished alongside our personal effect and belongings.
“Our speaker’s residence was brutally attacked. Our residential quarters was brutally invaded by the governor. Our allowances have been seized for about a year and six months. We still continue to suffer.
“Yet we have resolved to put all of these behind us in the interest of our state, so that our state can move forward. We cannot afford to punish our people because of our ego and personal interests.
“We have our aged pensioners, who must receive their pensions. We have our teachers in public schools who we depend on for our children to be educated, they must be paid their salaries.
“We have government hospitals and health centres, which our people depend on for discounted and affordable medical services.” Arise News.