Rivers Crisis: Court restrains Amaewhule’s group’s access to assembly complex

In the interim, while the lawsuit is being heard by the Rivers High Court in Port Harcourt, the Martins Amaewhule-led faction of the Rivers State Assembly is not permitted to enter the assembly complex by force.

In Suit No./PHC/3030/CS/2023, the House of Assembly and Speaker Edison Ehie had petitioned the court, requesting, among other things, an exparte order prohibiting the first and second respondents in the case, Amaewhule and Maol, from forcibly entering the Assembly premises.

The court’s Tuesday decision also forbade the MPs from utilising the assembly space in accordance with Siminalayi Fubara, the governor, who had ordered that the space be used for renovations.

Ehie is known to be in Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s camp, but Amaewhule is thought to be devoted to former Governor Nyesom Wike.

Hon. Justice Monina Danagogo issued an ex parte order in Port Harcourt, the state capital of Rivers, cautioning against using thugs and police officials to forcefully enter the House of Assembly’s premises.

The defendants and their representatives were additionally ordered by the judge not to interfere or disturb the performance of their obligations.

Kicks APC
However, Tony Okocha, the State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Caretaker Committee, disapproved of the directive. He threatened to report the judge to the National Judicial Council after accusing him of bias.

“You are witnesses to the resurgence of the ‘Jankara Judgement’ era in Rivers state… Chief Tammy Danagogo, the current SSG to the Governor, is the younger brother of the aforementioned Justice Danagogo,” stated Okocha.

“We will not sit back and allow this to happen; we know this is a ploy to allow the Governor to present the budget to the four lawmakers.”

Massive Defections
Following the unexpected choice of 27 out of the 32 assembly members to defect from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on whose platform they were elected, and join the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), a court order was issued.

Amaewhule and another member, Edison Ehie, have been locked in a Speakership power struggle for weeks.

Siminalayi Fubara, the governor of Rivers, received an impeachment notice from the Assembly led by Amaewhule in October, and Ehie was dismissed as the head of the House. But other Assembly members who supported Fubara promptly impeached Amaewhule and installed Ehie as Speaker.

A rift between Fubara and his predecessor, Wike, who is currently the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), was the catalyst for the crisis in the 32-member Assembly.

Even though both politicians had been to the same public events in recent weeks, and everything appeared to be resolved, there may be more drama in the state’s political scene now that 27 PDP lawmakers have defected to the APC on Monday.