The All Progressives Congress (APC) has said Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s declaration that the Rivers State House of Assembly does not exist is not only reckless but a direct affront to the Constitution of the country.
APC national publicity secretary, Felix Morka who said this at a press conference yesterday, said the House of Assembly is a creation of the Constitution, and vested with the legislative authority of the state.
According to APC spokesman, members of the Assembly were elected by the people of Rivers State in the same manner that Fubara was elected governor.
Morka said if the governor’s declaration that the House of Assembly was non-existent was based on the fact that the 27 members who decamped from PDP to APC had lost their seats, then he was misled.
He also said contrary to PDP’s assertions, it is not APC that is calling for the impeachment of Fubara but by his actions, conduct and comments, the governor is actively and vehemently precipitating his own impeachment.
“To be clear, the 27 Assembly members did not lose their membership of the Assembly by virtue of their decampment. There is nothing homeostatic about Section 109(1)(g) of the Constitution. It is not self-executing.
“The proviso to the said Section 109(1) (g) established exceptional grounds to the applicability of Section 109(1)(g). Section 109(1) states: A member of a House of Assembly shall vacate his seat in the House if – (S.109(1)(g) – being a person whose election to the House of Assembly was sponsored by a political party, he becomes a member of another political party before expiration of the period for which that House was elected,” he said.
