Between October 29 and 30, the state experienced a political crisis when the revered chamber of the House of Assembly was set ablaze. This incident occurred due to alleged attempts to impeach Governor Fubara.
As a result of the crisis, two factional speakers emerged – Matins Amaehule, who remained loyal to Wike, and Edison Ehie, a staunch supporter of Fubara. However, as the crisis worsened, 27 house members, known to be loyal to Wike, announced their defection to the APC.
Nevertheless, one of them later reversed their decision. Furthermore, some commissioners who were loyal to Wike in Governor Fubara’s cabinet resigned from their positions. To address the ongoing crisis, a meeting was held between the president, stakeholders from the state, and other relevant parties. This meeting commenced on Monday evening.
During the meeting, the Federal Government distanced itself from the political turmoil. At the conclusion of the closed-door meeting, an eight-point resolution was reached, and all stakeholders signed it to bring an end to the crisis.
One of the resolutions stipulated that all parties involved must withdraw their court cases. However, during the court proceedings on Wednesday for suit No: IHC/230/2023, which involved Sir Siminalayi Joseph Fubara against The Rivers State House of Assembly & Ors, the governor’s counsel, D. O. Okoro, SAN, informed the court that he had not been instructed to withdraw the case.
Presiding over the High Court sitting at Isiokpo was Justice O. Ben-Whyte. On the other hand, Chief Ferdinand Orbih (SAN), the counsel for the State Assembly, informed the court that his clients had instructed him to withdraw the case based on the agreement reached by the parties.
Due to the conflicting instructions, Justice Ben-Whyte advised Okoro to seek clarification from his client regarding the recent development highlighted by Orbih.
The case was adjourned until January 31, 2024, for a report on the settlement progress.
