The factional speaker emerged a day after Governor Fubara declared that Rivers State has no House of Assembly.
A factional speaker of the Rivers House of Assembly emerged on Wednesday, creating confusion and deepening the political crisis in the oil-rich Rivers State.
The spokesperson to Governor Siminalayi Fubara, Chukwudi Nelson, announced the emergence of Victor Oko-Jumbo, a member representing Bonny State Constituency, as the factional speaker in a statement forwarded to PREMIUM TIMES on Wednesday.
The statement, signed by the factional speaker, Mr Oko-Jumbo and G. M. Gillis-West, said to be the clerk of the assembly, claimed Mr Oko-Jumbo emerged as "speaker" during plenary on Wednesday.
The fact that the statement announcing the emergence of Mr Oko-Jumbo as a factional speaker is being circulated by the spokesperson to Mr Fubara shows that he (Oko-Jumbo) has the governor's endorsement.
The development is about 24 hours after Governor Fubara declared that the Rivers State has no House of Assembly.
Rivers Assembly
The Rivers legislature is a 32-member assembly. One lawmaker died shortly after the 2023 general elections, leaving 31 members.
Out of 31 members, 27 are loyal to the immediate past governor of the state, Nyesom Wike, now the minister of FCT, while four are loyal to Governor Fubara.
Mr Wike, who was instrumental to the emergence of Mr Fubara as governor, has since fallen out with Governor Fubara, a development that split the assembly into two factions.
Martins Amaewhule is the speaker of the Wike-backed faction, while Edison Ehie was the speaker of the four-member faction backed by Governor Fubara.
The political feud between Messrs Fubara and Wike steadily deteriorated, prompting the intervention of President Bola Tinubu, who midwifed a peace deal between them after the seats of Mr Wike-backed lawmakers were declared vacant following their defection to the APC.
After the peace deal, Mr Ehie resigned as speaker and also from the assembly. He was appointed chief of Staff to Governor Fubara, leaving the governor's faction with just three lawmakers.
It is not clear if Mr Oko-Jumbo's emergence as speaker has the backing of the other two lawmakers
With their overwhelming majority, the pro-Wike lawmakers, after their return to the assembly, have been at loggerheads with Governor Fubara. They have, for at least six times, overrode the governor's veto on bills passed by the assembly.
Speech by factional speaker
In his acceptance speech, Mr Oko-Jumbo thanked the "members" for electing him as the new "speaker" sequel to the resignation of the former factional speaker, Mr Ehie.
The factional speaker, Mr Oko-Jumbo, said: "This is in line with Section 92(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (CFRN 1999) as Amended."
He described Mr Amaewhule as a "former speaker".
"You will agree with me that after the House last sat on the 13th of December, 2023, and adjourned sine dine, there has been an avalanche of legislative rascality perpetrated by the 25 former members of the 10th Rivers State House of Assembly, led by the former Speaker, Mr Amaewhule.
"These former members, being fully aware of the provisions of Section 109(1)(g) of the CFRN 1999, defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Party (APC) on the 11th of December, 2023.
"Consequently, the Mr Ehie-led Assembly, on the 13th of December, 2023, wrote to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), declaring the seats of the 25 lawmakers vacant in line with Section 109(1)(g) and (2) of the CFRN 1999.
"My distinguished colleagues, there are a plethora of cases pending in our courts further to the defection of the former lawmakers."
Speaking further, Mr Oko-Jumbo described the Wike-backed assembly as illegal and declared that actions taken by them were null and void.
"All laws, plenary sessions and actions taken by the illegal House members are hereby declared void and a nullity in the eyes of the law by the judgment of Lord Denning in the celebrated case of MacFoy v UAC (1961) 3 All ER 1169.
"Lord Denning held in that case that you cannot put something on nothing and expect it to stand. Particularly, Lord Denning stated: 'If an act is void, then it is in law a nullity. It is not only bad but incurably bad. There is no need for an order of court to set it aside.
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"It is automatically null and void without more ado, though it is sometimes more convenient to have the court declare it to be so'.
"You cannot put something on nothing and expect it to stay there. It will collapse," he added.
Mr Oko-Jumbo called on the executive arm, the judiciary and the general public to disregard every law enacted by the "illegal" assembly members.
The factional speaker urged Governor Fubara to desist forthwith from further dealings with the other faction of the assembly.
"Those members are merely floating and do not have any landing ground or anywhere to berth their ship since their defection to the All Progressives Congress on the 11th of December, 2023.
"This House is the legally and constitutionally recognised House of Assembly by the defection of the other members and is ready to receive correspondences from and work with the Governor of Rivers State, Mr Fubara. Distinguished colleagues," he said.
Mr Amaewhule, the speaker of Mr Wike-backed faction, did not respond to a request for comment on the development when contacted on Wednesday night.
