The Rivers State House of Assembly row is deepening as Governor Siminalayi Fubara has come under attack for committing constitutional breach by assenting 2024 Appropriation Bill earlier passed by four lawmakers in the house less than the quorum.
Last week, 27 members of the House under Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) loyal to ex-governor Nyesom Wike defected to All Progressives Congress (APC).
Shortly after their defection, Governor Fubara presented the 2024 Budget estimate to four house members, and he readily assented the bill into law.
However, Wahab Shittu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, has reacted to the presentation of the 2024 appropriation bill by Governor Siminalayi Fubara to six members of the House of Assembly.
He alleged that any decision taken by the four members of the Rivers state House of Assembly is a gross illegality which is against the constitution.
Shittu argued that Section 96, Sub-section 2 of the constitution, deems any action by the state assembly competent only if 1/3 of members are present. According to him, 1/3 of 31 falls between 10 and 11 members only.
Section 96, sub-section 1 and 2 say
(1) The quorum of a House of Assembly shall be one-third of all the members of the House.
(2) If objection is taken by any member of a House of Assembly present that there are present in that House (besides the person presiding) fewer than one-third of all the members of that House and that it is not competent for the House to transact business, and after such interval as may be prescribed in the rules of procedure of the House, the person presiding ascertains that the number of members present is still less than one-third of all the members of the House, he shall adjourn the House.
The legal practitioner said in an interview with Channels TV, ”You cannot form a quorum of any state house of assembly without having 1/3 members present.
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- That is section 96, subsection 1. Section 96 subsection 1a says that if you want the inaugural sitting of a state house of assembly to be properly constituted, it must be 2/3 of the members. Section 962 says that there is no action of the state assembly that can be competent except if you have 1/3 of the members.
- Wahab Shittu, SAN
‘‘The question to ask is what is 1/3 of 31? Of course, it’s above 10 and less than 11. So clearly, any decision taken by the four members of the Rivers State House of Assembly is a gross illegality. The question we should ask is, do we have a culture of impunity taking place in Rivers? Of course, it is.
‘‘And this is not to take sides with anybody. The best way to be able to resolve this issue is to resolve it by reference to the Constitution. So, four members of the Rivers state House of Assembly cannot take any decision.”
Moreover, Chuks Uguru, another Nigerian lawyer, described the Rivers State Assembly holding plenary to discuss state matters and deliberate on issues as an aberration and should not have happened.
Uguru, however, was countered by another lawyer Liborous Oshoma, who said that if the seats of the 27 lawmakers had been declared vacant before the presentation of the 2024 appropriation bill, then, the members who were present at the House meeting are the only ones who currently make up the Rivers State House of Assembly.
In an interview with ARISE NEWS on Thursday, Uguru spoke regarding the ongoing controversy in Rivers State, saying that while it was well within the rights of the speaker to declare the seats of the 27 defector lawmakers empty, there was no order that was given by the few people left in the house to conduct state business before the issue is sorted in the courts.
Uguru said, “I have gone through that order with the microscopic thoroughness of a scientist searching for an invincible jam, and I am not able to see where the court gave it in promoter of authority to four members of the House of assembly to sit and legitimately transact the business of the house.
“I am aware that by the majestic provision of the constitution, in section 96 of the 1999 constitution, that the forum of the state house of assembly must be one-third of all the members. How four or five members can be equated to one-third in a house where you have over thirty members is an aberration, and as far as I am concerned, it cannot be justified.”
However, Oshoma, who was alongside him in the interview, said that did not matter, explaining that if the seats had been declared empty before the House meeting was held, then the defector lawmakers ceased to be a part of the House of Assembly immediately.
He said, “If these seats had been declared vacant before the presentation of the budget, what now becomes the interpretation you will give to section 96? What is the quorum of the house as at that time if 27 members’ seats have been declared vacant? So, if we say you have four members here, and two, their seats have been declared vacant, so what it means is that you are no more members of the house.
So, that is it, because you can’t take one section and read it in isolation, it must be read holistically. And also, there is no provision in the law where it says where members’ seats have been declared vacant, other members shall not do the business of the house until the issue is determined by the court. There is no provision in our constitution in as far of that is concerned.”
He said “Except someone is showing me a contrary position in the constitution that where members’ seats are declared vacant, and then the business of the assembly should not be conducted until the court rules on it, then that’s where I will fault, if you like call it kangaroo presentation or the laughable presentation of budget that happened in the assembly in Port Harcourt.”
Oshoma expanded the controversy within the state as he said, “The Supreme court had copiously consistently interpreted what crisis in a political party means, and the crisis that the supreme court had interpreted means crisis at the centre, at the national level of the political party, because what politicians usually do is to orchestrate crisis at their ward level and now use that as a basis, as a yardstick to defect.
“I think, this section of the constitution, what we need to do is completely left out that section of if there is a merger or if there is a crisis. If you want to defect from a political party, you should automatically lose your seat and go and recontest that seat if you must remain in the house or in the senate. This issue of creating a loophole provided there is a crisis has given a lot of politicians the opportunity to use that as a yardstick to defect.”
Wike still feuding
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, said he wants peace in Rivers state, but warned politicians not to pull the ladder they used in ascending to their enviable positions.
Wike and his political godson, the Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, have been at loggerheads lately.
Their feud led to the bombing of the state House of Assembly complex and an attempt to impeach Fubara, which climaxed in the defection of 27 lawmakers loyal to Wike from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress.
However, on Sunday while addressing traditional rulers of Ogba land who visited him at his Port Harcourt residence, Wike said his political team in the state will not allow anyone to drag it down.
The traditional rulers, led by Nwachukwu Nnam-Obi III, had visited Wike to congratulate him on his 56th birthday, as they asked for peace over the crisis rocking the state.
Wike, while addressing the monarchs, said he would listen to their advice as he was prepared to accept peace on the political crisis in the state, saying people of the state did not vote based on ethnicity in the last governorship election.
He said, “No politician will fold his hands and allow to be dragged down.
“I and my team would accept peace but we won’t allow ourselves to be dragged down because when we go down, who will protect our people? Who will talk about our own interest?”
The former governor added that in every social group, there are rules and regulations guiding the behaviour of members.
He said, “In everywhere you are, even in the traditional institutions, there are rules. You can’t run away from them. In a political group, there are rules.
“You cannot say that because an Oba has emerged and then an Oba will not follow the rules of the traditional institution.
“No! An Oba will always obey the rules. So also in politics, there are things you must not do and there are things you must not do.
“Don’t pull the ladder that you used in climbing. When you are coming down, the ladder may not be there. Also leave the ladder so that other people can also climb the ladder.”
