The 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly have resolved to fight against their exclusion from legislative activities to the end.
Their leader, Speaker Martins Amaewhule, said despite their challenges, the lawmakers would not give up their quest for the rule of law.
He spoke at a reception organised in their honour in Port-Harcourt, the state capital, by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike.
The Caretaker Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) said crisis would persist in the state because of the unhealthy relationship between Governor Siminalayi Fubara and the aggrieved lawmakers.
Amaewhule expressed gratitude to Wike for his guidance and support, assuring him that the Assembly would remain steadfast in making laws that would enhance the wellbeing of the people of Rivers.
He said: “We are grateful for the unwavering support and mentorship of the Honourable Minister, who remains a beacon of leadership.”
Amaewhule also lauded President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his fatherly roles and assured him that the lawmakers would continue to walk on the path of peace and the rule of law.
At the ceremony, former President of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), OCJ Okocha, faulted the position of Governor Siminalayi Fubara on legal matters.
Okocha described himself as an authentic legal luminary, saying he was called to the Bar 46 years ago, became a Senior Advocate of Nigeria 29 years ago, and served the state and the nation in several professional capacities.
He said: “My career stands as a testament to my unwavering dedication to the rule of law” he said assuring members of the Assembly that the law was on their side.
Okocha: why crisis will persist in Rivers
Okocha, maintained that crisis has persisted in the state due to the feud between Fubara and the 27 lawmakers.
Reflecting on the Federal High Court’s dismissal of the suit seeking to replace the pro-Wike 27 lawmakers, Okocha said they were not members of the APC.
He said there was no proof of their registration as APC members at the ward level.
Okocha added: “They didn’t join us. I wooed them and did much more to get them to join us, I begged them, but they didn’t join us. I am saying this as chairman APC Rivers caretaker committee, clearly and without missing words, they didn’t join us. Let anyone saying they joined us show proof. The law is not about emotion but concrete facts.”
Okocha also attributed the crisis to the struggle for political structures by political big wigs in the state.
He said while former governor Wike worked to unite the state, he handed over to a successor who has divided the state.
Okocha said: “Unfortunately for him, he introduced to the political scene, somebody he felt was a confidant, who is, today, the state governor. He was not a politician.
“He was a civil servant all his life and Wike catapulted him from Deputy Director to Director, Finance and Administration, and directed that he be posted to the Government House.
“He was later made Chief of Staff and was promoted few months after to Permanent Secretary, Government House, in charge of finance and was later made the Accountant-General.
“Fubara was never in politics. He was just a routine civil servant, but for whatever it is worth, Wike felt he should hand over to a confidant as is normal with Nigerian politicians.”
Okocha recalled that Wike was able to sell Fubara to Rivers people and spoke for him all through the campaigns, apparently because he didn’t know what to say before he was elected.
He said Fubara had never been a councillor or local government chairman.
Okocha added: “His first stint in politics was the highest office in the state because Wike was there for him.”
The chairman said that ahead of his election, Fubura feigned loyalty and humility, and submitted himself to Wike, which turned out to be a decoy at the end of the day.
He said three months after assuming office as governor, Fubara was convinced by some politicians opposed to Wike to build his own political structures out of their selfish reasons.
Okocha said: “What sustains every politician in the field is a potent structure and Wike could not sit and watch his political structures, which raised Fubara and some members of the state Assembly, destroyed.
“Fubara constituted a clog in the wheel of Wike’s political structures and was dismantling it, which Wike couldn’t take. The reason we are having Rivers in the news for bad things is because the governor is fighting himself.”
Okocha said Fubara is the chief law officer of the state and and also “the chief law breaker,” who chooses the order to obey and the one not to obey.
“He added: “When you do that, it is an invitation to anarchy; he is the one that brought ant-infested firewood to his house, and now lizards are feasting.”
Okocha said Rivers APC would not relent in criticising Fubara because that is the responsibility of an opposition party.
He said: “Our position as a vibrant opposition in Rivers is, first and foremost, to speak for the voiceless in the society via constructive criticisms and point out grey areas to the state government.
“By so doing, we are demarketing Gov. Siminalayi Fubara and his party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). We are not expected to be applauding the PDP government in Rivers. Doing that means we won’t be able to win future elections in the state.
“Our business is to constructively criticise the government and that is what is giving us an edge; otherwise, we inherited an APC that was not a party but a social club.”
Okocha lamented that former Governor Rotimi Amaechi, who was the APC leader in Rivers, customised and colonised the party.
He said APC’s desire was the weakening of the ruling party in Rivers and other opposition parties in order to have a smooth sail in the 2027 general election.
Okocha stressed: “We can’t allow them to be strong; we will not close our eyes and watch them become united so that they will come again with their forces, like the Labour Party did with Peter Obi, its presidential candidate in the 2023 presidential election.”