{"id":2620,"date":"2025-03-10T07:34:40","date_gmt":"2025-03-10T07:34:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/?p=2620"},"modified":"2025-03-10T07:34:40","modified_gmt":"2025-03-10T07:34:40","slug":"rivers-crisis-gov-fubara-recognises-pro-wike-lawmakers-as-assembly-members-invites-them-for-peace-meeting-wikes-amaehules-supporters-kick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/2025\/03\/10\/rivers-crisis-gov-fubara-recognises-pro-wike-lawmakers-as-assembly-members-invites-them-for-peace-meeting-wikes-amaehules-supporters-kick\/","title":{"rendered":"Rivers Crisis: Gov Fubara Recognises pro-Wike lawmakers as Assembly members, invites them for peace meeting\u00a0 \u2022Wike’s, Amaehule’s supporters kick"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By Our Reporter<\/div>\n
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In compliance with the directives of the Supreme Court judgement, Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara has finally recognised and acknowledged the 27 lawmakers led by Martin Amaehwule as members of the State House of Assembly.<\/div>\n
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Recall that Governor Fubara,\u00a0 lost to the Amaehwule-led lawmakers at the Supreme Court on Friday, February 28, 2025, after a political battle that has lasted for a year and five months has now\u00a0 recognised Martin Amaehwule as the authentic Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly.<\/div>\n
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Speaker Rt Hon Martin Amaehwule<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

In a move to resolve the 17-month crisis between him and the lawmakers, that led to burning of the Rivers State House of Assembly complex on Sunday October 29, 2023, and a failed impeachment attempt on him the following day, October 30th, 2023, and later division of the House into two factions, the Governor has invited the lawmakers for a peace meeting with the State government.<\/div>\n
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The invitation for the peace meeting scheduled to hold at the Governor’s office, Government House, Port Harcourt on Monday 10, was contained in a letter signed by the Secretary to the Rivers State Governor (SSG), and addressed to the Speaker, Martin Amaehwule.<\/div>\n
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According to the SSG, the meeting was in response to the Supreme Court ruling which he promised during a statewide broadcast last Sunday to comply to and implement accordingly upon receiving the certified true copy of the judgments.<\/div>\n
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After the broadcast, the Pro-Wike lawmakers during plenary the next day, Monday and gave the governor a 48 hours ultimatum to present the 2025 budget before them.<\/div>\n
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Upon expiration of the ultimatum on Wednesday, 5th March, 2025, the Assembly gave another 48 hours ultimatum to Governor Fubara to sack all 19 Commissioners in his cabinet, including members the local government civil service commission, house of Assembly service commission as well as members of other agencies that were not screened by them, and forward new list of appointees to them for screening.<\/div>\n
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The letter from the state government to the Amaehwule-led Assembly reads in part; “I hereby write in furtherance of His Excellency’s promise stated in my letter dated 5 March, 2025 to notify you that His Excellency has received the Supreme Court Judgment, and has therefore directed me to invite you and your colleagues – the Honourable members of Rivers State House of Assembly, to a meeting.”<\/div>\n
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According to the SSG, among issues to discuss at the meeting includes; provision of a befitting space for the Assembly’s sittings and payment of all outstanding remuneration or allowances of the Honourable members;<\/div>\n
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He also listed presentation of the Budget and sundry matters, as may be necessary, to chart the way forward in the best interest of the State.<\/div>\n
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Meanwhile, some loyalists of the FCT Minister and supporters of the Martin Amaehwule led Rivers Assembly have reacted to the invitation of the lawmakers to a peace meeting by Governor Siminalayi Fubara.<\/div>\n
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A political pressure group in the state known as Wike Generation Next while reacting to the invitation said the meeting might likely not be possible, as members of the House of Assembly are yet to officially receive the said letter from the Rivers State government and Governor Siminalayi Fubara inviting them to a peace meeting.<\/div>\n
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The group accused Governor Fubara of not being ready for a genuine reconciliation and initiatives that will move the dear state forward. They also alleged that the governor playing hide-and-seek game, being reason why he didn’t sign the letter himself, instead the SSG, Tammy Danagogo did.<\/div>\n
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Leader of the group, Okazu Powers, in his reaction said, “We have taken note of a letter allegedly signed by the Secretary to the Rivers State Government, Chief Dr. Tammy\u00a0 Danagogo, dated March 7, 2025, which was later published on social media on March 9, 2025.<\/div>\n
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“To the best of our knowledge, the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly has not received any official correspondence from the Governor or the Government of Rivers State. His initial letter, which could have reopened the channel of communication between the Governor and the House, was rejected upon dispatch to the Rivers State Government House.<\/div>\n
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“There is no record of the letter being officially received by the Assembly\u2014no acknowledgment copy was signed by the Speaker or the Clerk of the House, nor is there any proof of formal correspondence with the Assembly. Instead, the government claims to have seen the Speaker\u2019s initial letter only on social media after preventing the House\u2019s logistics consultants from delivering it to the Government House in Port Harcourt.<\/div>\n
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“It is highly irregular and unacceptable that a government communication dated March 7, 2025, was withheld until Sunday, March 9, 2025, before being published on social media, seemingly for public theatrics rather than genuine governance.<\/div>\n
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“We find it absurd and unco Martin Amaewhule for the Governor to be communicating to the Rivers State House of Assembly through the office of the Secretary of the State Government, Governor Fubara is playing hide-and-seek game which is not necessary at this point.<\/div>\n
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“The Governor is the Head of the Executive as it is standard protocol that He must accord respect to the Speaker who is the Head of the Legislature. Well-meaning Rivers people will know when the Governor is ready for genuine initiatives that will move our dear state forward.<\/div>\n
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“The date in question had already been set for a plenary session, during which the House expects the Chairman of the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC), Justice Adolphus Enebeli (Rtd.), to appear before the House at 10 a.m. on Monday, March 10, 2025. This matter, among others, remains a priority for the Rivers State House of Assembly.”<\/div>\n
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On one of the issues highlighted by the Rivers SSG for discuss in the proposed peace meeting, the group said, “The first issue raised in the government\u2019s letter has already been conclusively addressed by the judgment of Justice J.K. Omotosho in Suit No: FHC\/ABJ\/CS\/1613\/2023, which was upheld by the Supreme Court.<\/div>\n
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The judgment affirms that the House of Assembly has the legal authority to conduct legislative business in any location it deems fit. This ruling follows the unconstitutional and undemocratic demolition of the Assembly Complex at Moscow Road, Port Harcourt. As lawmakers, it is their duty to uphold the rule of law and resist executive overreach.<\/div>\n
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“The second issue in the letter is non-negotiable. By law, the Governor cannot access or spend a single kobo of Rivers State\u2019s resources without first presenting a budget to the House of Assembly.<\/div>\n
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“The members of the Assembly, who have endured undue financial hardship and hunger for the past 12 months, will not be coerced into submission. Despite multiple court rulings affirming their rights, the Governor has deliberately refused to pay them. Due process must be followed, and the right thing must be done before any financial discussions can take place,” they posited.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Our Reporter In compliance with the directives of the Supreme Court judgement, Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara has finally recognised and acknowledged the 27 lawmakers led by Martin Amaehwule as members of the State House of Assembly. Recall that Governor Fubara,\u00a0 lost to the Amaehwule-led lawmakers at the Supreme Court on Friday, February […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1280,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1234,18,1653,205,334,707],"class_list":["post-2620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-financial","tag-hardship","tag-invitation","tag-lawmakers","tag-peace","tag-rejects"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2620"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2620\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2623,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2620\/revisions\/2623"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}