Rivers Crisis: Why Ehie Lacks Power To Declare Lawmakers’ Seats Vacant – Lawyer

Rivers Crisis: Why Ehie Lacks Power To Declare Lawmakers’ Seats Vacant – Lawyer

Amidst the ongoing political unrest in Rivers State, legal practitioner Emmanuel Anele has expressed the view that the leader of one faction of the state assembly, Edison Ehie, lacks the legal authority to declare the seats of 27 members in the opposing group vacant.

Anele, speaking on Thursday’s edition of Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, argued that Ehie’s declaration does not align with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution.

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On Wednesday, Ehie, leading five members loyal to Governor Siminalayi Fubara, declared the seats of 27 lawmakers led by Martin Amaewhule, who is loyal to former governor Nyesom Wike, vacant. This action followed the lawmakers’ defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

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Emmanuel Anele contended that such a declaration does not conform to the stipulations of Section 109, Subsection 1 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.

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“These members have not lost their seats unless the court now says that having defected from PDP to APC and the reasons you cited could not avail you of that defection, you hereby lose your seat.

“It’s on that ground that the speaker will now say, ‘In view of the judgement before me against the 27 lawmakers that defected, their seats have been declared vacant’,” Anele said.

“That section did not automatically empower the speaker to declare any seat vacant, unless the fact as to the issue of defection is determined by the court.”

“The provision of the section states that if there is a defection from party A to party B and that defection has not caused a division in the party that brought the member to power, then you can declare his seat vacant.”

The crisis within the 32-member Rivers State Assembly stems from a longstanding dispute between Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike. A Rivers High Court in Port Harcourt has issued a restraining order against the Amaewhule-led group, preventing them from forcibly accessing the assembly complex until the lawsuit is heard.

The tension heightened as Governor Fubara presented the N800 billion 2024 budget estimates to the Ehie-led group at the Government House. This development occurred concurrently with the demolition of the Assembly Complex on Wednesday.

On Thursday, Governor Fubara assented to the 2024 Appropriation Bill after it received approval from the Ehie-led group in the Assembly.

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