Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State, yesterday, signed an agreement with his predecessor and Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Minister, Chief Nyesom Wike, to end the political crisis in the state.
An eight-point peace deal was brokered by President Bola Tinubu and other stakeholders at a crucial meeting in the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
According to the peace resolutions, impeachment moves against Fubara would be stopped, Speaker Martin Amaewhule, the leader of the G27 lawmakers who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to the All Progressives Congress, APC, would return as speaker while Mr. Edison Ehie will step down. All matters in court would be withdrawn, and the governor will re-submit his N800.3 billion 2024 budget to the whole House. The Ehie four-man House had last Thursday passed the budget less than 24 hours after receiving it from Governor Fubara.
The President met with Fubara, Wike, former Governor of Rivers State, Sir Peter Odili and some other stakeholders from the state at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Also present at the meeting that lasted two hours were Vice President Kashim Shettima, the deputy governor of Rivers State, Ngozi Odu; National Security Adviser, NSA, Nuhu Ribadu and the Chief of Staff to the President, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila.
Resolutions
The resolutions are: “All matters instituted in the courts by Governor Fubara, and his team, in respect of the political crisis in Rivers State, shall be withdrawn immediately
“All impeachment proceedings initiated against the governor of Rivers State by the Rivers State House of Assembly should be dropped immediately
“The leadership of the Rivers State House of Assembly as led by the Amaewhule shall be recognised alongside the 27 members who resigned from the PDP
“The remunerations and benefits of all members of the Rivers State House of Assembly and their staff must be reinstated immediately and the governor of Rivers State shall, henceforth, not interfere with the full funding of the Rivers State House of Assembly
“The Rivers State House of Assembly shall choose where they want to sit and conduct their legislative business without interference and/or hindrance from the Executive arm of government.
“Governor Fubara, shall represent the state budget to a properly constituted Rivers State House of Assembly.
“The names of all commissioners in the Rivers State Executive Council, who resigned their appointments because of the political crisis in the state should be resubmitted to the House of Assembly for approval.
“There should not be a caretaker committee for the local governments in Rivers State. The dissolution of the Local Government administration is null and void and shall not be recognised.”
The resolution was signed by Fubara, Wike, Prof. Odu, Nuhu Ribadu, Amaewhule, PDP Chairman, Rivers State, Aaron Chukwuemeka, and APC Chairman, Rivers State, Tony Okocha.
The closed door meeting at the Presidential Villa started without Wike but he later joined.
The FCT Minister, was instrumental to the emergence of Governor Fubara and other elected officers from the state in both the state and National Assembly in the last general elections.
The disagreement between Fubara and Wike has polarised the state House of Assembly leading to the defection of 27 Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, legislators to the All Progressives Congress, APC, last week. Two of the 27 lawmakers later returned to the four lawmakers loyal to Fubara. The Speaker Edison Ehie-led House, last week, declared the seats of the 25 led by Martin Amaewhule vacant and ever since both factions have been locked in a tug of war.
We’ve not been served any court process—PDP
Meanwhile, the PDP has said it was yet to receive any correspondence from any court in relation to the declaration of the seat of 27 Rivers State lawmakers who defected to the APC.
National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr. Debo Ologunagba, said this in response to enquiries from Vanguard over the news making the rounds that the estranged party members had obtained an injunction nullifying the declaration of their seats vacant.
He said: “We’ve not received any order of court, when and if we receive one, we will respond appropriately.”
On its part, Conference of United Political Parties, CUPP, said what was expected now is the fixing of date for bye-elections by Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to fill the “vacant” seats in Rivers.
National Secretary of the CUPP, Chief Peter Ameh, said: “The 27 former members of the Rivers State Assembly are trying to resurrect a matter that had already been settled by the Constitution. Section 109 (1) is clear about the fate of any lawmaker who defects from a political party after winning an election on its platform.
“They have forfeited their seats which have been so declared by the Speaker of the Rivers State Assembly, he has written to INEC by that action, the process is complete.
“What we expect now is for INEC to release a time table for the conduct of a bye-election to fill the vacant seats. They have the option of trying their luck in court.
“We appeal to security agencies to respect their oath of office and maintain their fidelity to their constitutional roles and resist the temptation to be dragged into the political area by desperate people.
“This special appeal is hinged upon the intelligence we’ve received that a court has given an order for security agents to provide protection for the former lawmakers to carry out functions they no longer have powers to engage in.”
Vanguard