… Assembly members get order from Abuja not to attend – Sources
By Caleb Ishaya, Abuja
Baring any last minute decision 27 Rivers State House of Assembly members recently reinstated by the Supreme Court will not honour an invitation by Governor Siminalayi Fubara, for a crucial meeting today, sources last night reliably informed AljazirahNigeria.
According to sources “the lawmakers will not see the governor following the order they got from their boss and Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, after receiving the invitation letter by the governor”.
Upon receiving the Governor’s invitation, the lawmakers swiftly reached out to Wike, according to multiple sources craving anonymity because they are not authorised to speak in the matter.
“The lawmakers are disposed to doing Wike’s bidding by inviting the governor to the House of Assembly to answer some questions”, the source told AljazirahNigeria.
One of the sources who is familiar with the lingering political crisis in Rivers State said that “the lawmakers frowned at the Rivers Electoral Commission and some commissioners who went to court over their invitation to the House”.
“The lawmakers felt that they went to court on the instruction of Governor Fubara”, he added.
AljazirahNigeria reports that Fubara, invited the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Martin Amaewhule, and other lawmakers for a meeting scheduled to hold at the Governor’s Office in the Government House, Port Harcourt, today.
The invitation letter dated March 7 and signed by the Secretary to the State Government, Tammy Danagogo.
The letter read in part: “I hereby write in furtherance of His Excellency’s promise stated in my letter dated 5th March, 2025 to notify you that His Excellency has received the Supreme Court judgement, and has therefore directed me to invite you and your colleagues – the Honourable members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, to a meeting”.
The planned meeting between the governor and the lawmakers, Danagogo said would centre on provision of a befitting place for assembly sittings, payment of all outstanding remuneration or allowances of the Honourable members.
As well as the presentation of budget and sundry matters as well as other matters aimed at charting a new way forward for the oil-rich state.
“Sequel to the above, I hereby humbly invite the Rt Hon Speaker, and all the members of the Rivers State House of Assembly to a meeting with the Governor.
The meeting will focus on “the provision of a suitable venue for the Assembly’s sittings, settlement of all outstanding remuneration and allowances for Honourable members, presentation of the budget and related matters, and any other necessary issues aimed at advancing the best interests of the state”.
Fubara, expressed his anticipation of the lawmakers attendance with a view to charting “the way forward in the interest of the good people of Rivers State”.
It would be recalled that sequel to the recent Supreme Court judgment that reinstated the 27 pro-Wike lawmakers the Rivers State House of Assembly issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the governor to re-present the 2025 Budget Proposal, an ultimatum the Governor viewed as an affront and disrespect ; implying that the reinstated lawmakers are not ready to forge ahead in the interest of the State as they claimed.
AljazirahNigeria recalls that prior to the legal battle leading up to the Supreme Court, the former Governor of Rivers State were seen openly in support of the lawmakers and others and one doesn’t need a soothsayer if the lawmakers turned down the peaceful, developmental, reconciliation and restoration move by the Governor that their boss would have instructed them to do so. This is because as it is recently, the lawmakers will continue to be loyal and grateful to Wike for saving them from a wrong political calculation in December 2023 when the defected to the APC on the floor of the hallowed chamber in which the trial court of Justice Omotosho ruled that the defection was inchoate and the Supreme Court confirmed it and went further to rule that their were no defections because the governor jettisoned the constitution he swore to protect owing by destroying the roof and structure of the House of Assembly as well declaring their seats vacant, an authority he doesn’t have.
Baring any last minute change , the 27 Lawmakers, AljazirahNigeria reliably gathered that may shun Governor Fubara’s invitation today.
