Rivers State House of Assembly member Edison Ehie has declared the seats of 27 members void due to their departure from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The five-member faction led by Ehie, who is devoted to Governor Siminalayi Fubara, declared all of the seats in the group led by Martins Amaewhule vacant.
A legal dispute between Ehie and Amaewhule is ongoing on the Speakership.
Ehie and his allies took the decision on Wednesday in a plenary room that was kept hidden after the state administration demolished the Assembly Complex.
in the same time that the Assembly Complex was being demolished, the governor also gave the Ehie-led group the N800 billion budget estimates for 2024 in Government House.
The budget known as the “Budget of Renewed Hope, Consolidation and Continuity” has previously been approved by the Rivers State Executive Council.
Up to May 29, 2023, the 27 members were reportedly devoted to Amaewhule, a supporter of former state governor Nyesom Wike.
The MPs’ defection was reportedly a direct reaction to last weekend’s mass departure of grassroots politicians from the APC and Social Democratic Party (SDP) to the PDP.
There was a disagreement between Fubara and Wike, his predecessor, which led to the start of the crisis in the 32-member Assembly.
Amaewhule’s Assembly dismissed Ehie as House leader in October and sent Fubara an impeachment notice. But other Assembly members who supported Fubara promptly impeached Amaewhule and installed Ehie as Speaker.
The Amaewhule-led mob was then prevented from forcibly entering the assembly complex by a Rivers High Court in Port Harcourt, while the suit was being heard.
