Human rights lawyer Femi Falana has criticized Rivers State Governor Sim Fubara for directing the state assembly to meet at the Government House, citing the independence of the legislature from the executive.
Falana, speaking on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, argued that Fubara’s executive order relocating the assembly’s sitting venue was unlawful. He referenced a previous Supreme Court ruling that nullified the impeachment of a governor conducted outside the House of Assembly premises.
“The house is independent of the executive. So the governor cannot tell the house where to sit,” Falana emphasized. He added that any sitting of the House outside the premise of the House of Assembly complex would not be recognized by law.
Fubara had issued the executive order citing the unsafe state of the House of Assembly complex, but Falana insisted that the governor had overstepped his bounds.
According to Falana, each organ of government must know their powers and limitations under the Constitution.