INEC Foot-dragging On By-election For Vacant Seats – Pro-Fubara Lawmakers

The Rt. Hon Victor Oko-Jumbo-led Rivers State House of Assembly, loyal to Governor Siminalayi Fubara, has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of foot-dragging in conducting by-election into 25 seats allegedly declared vacant by the House.

Oko-Jumbo alleged that 25 members of the House, led by Rt. Hon. Martins Amaewhule, lost their seats after defecting from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Recall that the Amaewhule-led lawmakers, who are loyal to the minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Chief Nyesom Wike, had during their sitting on Tuesday declared the seats of four lawmakers, loyal to Fubara as vacant.

The pro-Wike lawmakers also wrote to INEC seeking for the conduct of a by-election to fill the alleged vacant positions in Bonny, Okrika, Ahoada-East 11 and Ahoada-West Constituencies in the State House of Assembly.

But, in a statement issued in Port Harcourt on Tuesday night, Oko-Jumbo insisted that the seats of Amaewhule and others must be filled through by-election conducted by INEC in line with the provisions of the Constitution.

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He stated that the inability of INEC to do the needful since December 13, 2023, has created room for unnecessary distractions from Amaewhule and his committee of friends, and called on the commission to discharge its constitutional responsibilities to the people of the state.

The statement reads in part; “Please, recall that on the 11th day of December, 2023, Martin Chike Amaewhule and 24 others defected from the Peoples Democratic Party that sponsored their election into the Rivers State House of Assembly, to the All Progressives Congress.  Their defection was headline news and widely reported in print and electronic media.

“On the 13th day of December, 2023, the defection by Martin Chike Amaewhule and 26 others was further cemented in an affidavit deposed to by Martin Chike Amaewhule, when in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/1681/2023, Martin Chike Amaewhule & 26 Ors v. INEC & 5 Ors. in paragraphs 15 thereof, he deposed as follows: ‘That faced with the state of uncertainty and confusion in the 2nd defendant (Peoples Democratic Party) caused by division in the political party, the Plaintiffs were forced by the state of affairs within the 2nd defendant to defect and join the All Progressives Congress (APC).’

“On the 13th day of December, 2023, Rt. Honourable Edison Ogerenye Ehie, as then Speaker, declared the seats of Martin Chike Amaewhule and 24 others in the Rivers State House of Assembly vacant, and called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct bye-election to fill their vacant legislative seats. This has not been challenged and set aside by any court of law.

“Subsequently, I was elected as the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly.  Myself and the Members of the Rivers State House of Assembly have been piloting the affairs of the Rivers State House of Assembly, including passing resolutions and screening various eminent persons as commissioner-nominees and recommending them to  His Excellency, the Governor of Rivers State to be appointed and sworn-in as Commissioners, among others.

“Truth and facts are constant, sacrosanct and indelible.  The fact of the defection by Martin Chike Amaewhule and 24 Ors cannot be erased by pretenders like Martin Chike Amaewhule and his committee of friends.

“Today, the 15th day of October, 2024, Martin Chike Amaewhule & 24 Ors who ceased to be members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, on December 11, 2023, purportedly declared vacant the legislative seats of Rt. Honourable Victor Oko-Jumbo and others as members of the Rivers State House of Assembly. They have no such powers. This is an exercise in futility. It is a joke taken too far.

“As the Rt. Honourable Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, I call on INEC to immediately conduct bye-election to fill the legislative seats declared vacant on December 13, 2023. I also call on Nigerians and the good people of Rivers State in particular, to ignore the vituperations and ranting of Martin Chike Amaewhule and his committee of friends.

“They are not members of the Rivers State House of Assembly not to talk of having the powers to declare vacant the legislative seats of legitimate Assembly members, who have remained steadfast and did not defect like them.”