{"id":3654,"date":"2025-04-25T11:51:40","date_gmt":"2025-04-25T11:51:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/?p=3654"},"modified":"2025-04-25T11:54:33","modified_gmt":"2025-04-25T11:54:33","slug":"nass-has-a-constitutional-role-in-legitimizing-governance-in-rivers-house-leader-as-sole-administration-begs-for-more-time-to-brief-panel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/2025\/04\/25\/nass-has-a-constitutional-role-in-legitimizing-governance-in-rivers-house-leader-as-sole-administration-begs-for-more-time-to-brief-panel\/","title":{"rendered":"NASS Has A Constitutional Role in Legitimizing Governance in Rivers- House Leader.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 …..As Sole Administration begs for more time to brief panel"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By Our Reporter<\/div>\n
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Following the failure of Rivers state Sole Administrator to honour Hose of Representative invitation on Thursday, Leader of the House and Chairman House\u00a0 of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on Rivers State Oversight, Prof Julius Ihonvbere has reaffirmed the constitutional role of the National Assembly in legitimizing and overseeing the state of emergency declared in Rivers State.<\/div>\n
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According to the leader the federal legislature remains central to the state\u2019s transitional process.<\/div>\n
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Prof Ihonvbere reaffirmed the committee\u2019s constitutional mandate and expressed satisfaction that the administrator had finally honored the invitation after earlier delays.<\/div>\n
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He emphasized that the committee\u2019s mandate was rooted in constitutional authority and that some of its terms had already been communicated to the administrator in an earlier letter.<\/div>\n
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Citing relevant sections of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), Ihonvbere reminded the administrator that the power to declare a state of emergency under Section 305 rests with the President, but that the National Assembly must approve it before it becomes effective.<\/div>\n
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\u201cFor that state of emergency, the gazette must be sent to the National Assembly for approval. It\u2019s only that approval that gives life to the state of emergency. I repeat that so that you know how critical the National Assembly is to that process,\u201d he said.<\/div>\n
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He further referenced Section 11(4) of the Constitution, which empowers the National Assembly to take over the legislative functions of a state assembly when it is unable to function.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThat also means that all functions of the state House of Assembly, including budget approval, must come to the National Assembly and, by implication, this very committee,\u201d he explained.<\/div>\n
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Ihonvbere used the opportunity to clarify the committee\u2019s efforts to engage with the administrator from the onset of the crisis.<\/div>\n
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He noted that despite multiple attempts, including written correspondence, there were delays in securing the administrator\u2019s appearance.<\/div>\n
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The chairman encouraged the administrator to feel at ease, stressing that the committee members had been carefully selected to ensure broad representation across geopolitical zones and legislative experience.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI want you to feel relaxed because the members you see here were carefully selected based on zonal representation and membership of the House\u2014to advance the progress that Rivers State needs to make in order to be part and parcel of the holistic structure of democracy that Nigeria represents today,\u201d he said.<\/div>\n
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He reiterated the committee\u2019s readiness to discharge its duties with diligence and fairness in the interest of the people of Rivers State and Nigeria at large.<\/div>\n
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\u201cWe have demonstrated again and again our preparedness to do this job efficiently and effectively,\u201d he assured.<\/div>\n
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Prof Ihonvbere acknowledged that the meeting was held at the administrator\u2019s request and expressed optimism that it would mark the beginning of a collaborative process toward restoring stability in the state.<\/div>\n
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\u201cWe are glad you are here as you promised yesterday. This meeting actually at this time was at your instance, and we are happy that you are here. So you are welcome,\u201d he said.<\/div>\n
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Responding, the Sole Administrator Rivers State Vice Admiral Ibokete Ekwe Ibas Ibas.that he respectfully acknowledges\u00a0 leadership and the critical role of the committee in safeguarding the democratic and constitutional integrity of our great nation.<\/div>\n
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He said that it is both an honor and a solemn responsibility to address the lawmakers today in his capacity as the Administrator of River State.<\/div>\n
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He further expressed regrets over inability to attend earlier engagements with the House committee,<\/div>\n
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He said: “like you rightly said. Today is exactly 10 days after the first invitation and in between we’ve had four days that were off calendar as public holidays plus the weekends inclusive.<\/div>\n
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“The absence, of course, was not out of disregard, but rather due to the weighty and urgent demands of stabilizing governance in a state under a declared emergency.<\/div>\n
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“I have always held the National Assembly in the highest regard. I recognize the importance of your oversight responsibilities and your interest in the progress being made in River State, which is presently relatively calm, but still fragile.<\/div>\n
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“That said, I only request your understanding and the indulgence of this committee to grant me additional time to adequately prepare and present a comprehensive and constructive briefing. Given the complexities and sensitivities surrounding the current transitional period in River State, it is important that any engagement with this committee is done with the<\/div>\n
depth, accuracy and clarity it rightfully deserves.<\/div>\n
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“I remain fully committed to cooperating with the committee and to ensuring that all relevant information is made available in due course to support your important work. I want to specially thank Mr. Chairman and the distinguished honorable members of this committee for your understanding and continued service to the Federal Republic of Nigeria”.<\/div>\n
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He thanked the 21 member Ad-hoc Committee of the House as well as members of the press for the role they’ve played in supporting the efforts of the federal government.<\/div>\n
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It would be recalled that President Bola Tinubu on March 18,2025 declared a State of Emergency in Rivers State and immediately suspended the Governor Sir Siminilayi Fubara, his deputy Prof Ngozi Odu and members of the State House of Assembly for six months at first instance<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Our Reporter Following the failure of Rivers state Sole Administrator to honour Hose of Representative invitation on Thursday, Leader of the House and Chairman House\u00a0 of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on Rivers State Oversight, Prof Julius Ihonvbere has reaffirmed the constitutional role of the National Assembly in legitimizing and overseeing the state of emergency declared […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":346,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[502,1653,2368,2369,2370],"class_list":["post-3654","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-distinguished","tag-invitation","tag-representatives","tag-satisfaction","tag-transitional"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3654","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=3654"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3654\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3655,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3654\/revisions\/3655"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}