Akani Alaka
All eyes in Nigeria were practically on Nyesom Wike, the minister of FCT and his successor the Governor of Rivers State, Simianalayi Fubara for the better part of Wednesday. For Wike, the day was epochal as it also marked his 56th birthday.
Fubara, who Wike had imposed on the people of Rivers State as his successor, sent him a birthday message that was published in some newspapers and on many social media platforms wishing his ‘Oga’ as he referred to the minister long life and good health.
But it was also the day Fubara launched what many are now describing as the biggest pushback yet against the minister and his loyalists in the Rivers House of Assembly, who had attempted to launch impeachment proceedings against him in October.
The Rivers State governor had early Wednesday deployed no fewer than 10 bulldozers and other heavy equipment for the demolition of the sprawling complex of the state House of Assembly.
The House of Assembly has been factionalised since the failed plot to impeach the governor in October. A faction of the House with 27 members led by Martin Amaewhule is loyal to Wike while another faction led by Edison Ehie is loyal to Governor Fubara.
The Awaewhule faction has been sitting in the complex under heavy security in the past few days despite a court judgment obtained by its rival faction to stop all plenary of the House.
They had sat on Monday during which they declared that they were dumping the Peoples Democratic Party, the platform on which they were elected into office alongside the governor for the All Progressives Congress, APC.
They declared for the opposition party the same day the Rivers State Executive Council presided over by Governor Fubara approved the state’s 2024 budget.
The defection further put the governor in a bind on which of the Rivers Assembly factions would approve his budget. However, a Rivers State High Court presided over by Justice D.M Danagogo provided a leeway when it practically declared Edison Ehie as the authentic Speaker of the Rivers Assembly in a judgment delivered on Tuesday afternoon.
The court had also restrained Amaewhule-led 27 pro-Wike lawmakers from using Rivers State House of Assembly pending the hearing and determination of a suit brought before it by the Ehie-led faction of the state legislature.
The Court also warned against the use of thugs and police officers to forcefully gain access to the premises of Rivers State House of Assembly Complex.
Pro Wike lawmakers sacked, Fubara Presents Budget
The judgment set the stage for the demolition of the Rivers House of Assembly and the presentation of the Rivers 2024 budget to the Ehie-led four-member faction of the legislative chamber by Governor Fubara on Wednesday morning.
The faction sat at the Government House to receive the budget at about the same time the demolition of the Assembly complex was going on.
Before the arrival of the governor, Ehie had declared the seats of all 27 lawmakers who defected to the APC vacant.
He claimed this was in line with section 109 (1) and (2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended. Wike himself has not reacted to what is unarguably the biggest push against him by Fubara at the time of writing this story.
The Rivers State Government had defended the demolition of the Assembly Complex, saying it was carried out on the advice of consultants, who warned that the structure was no longer safe for use following the October bombing of the chamber.
Fubara Destroyed History
However, reacting to the chain of events, the Amaewhule-led faction of lawmakers accused Governor Fubara of murdering the history of the state with the demolition of the Assembly Complex.
George Alabo a member of the faction said this was because all the documents, belongings and records of lawmakers were destroyed alongside the complex: “Our archives, our legislative department, our legal department, our library, all our records, the entire history of the House of Assembly has just been brought down in one fell swoop, that is the sorry state we have found ourselves,” he said.
He also faulted the judgment of the state High Court restraining members of his faction from sitting, blaming it for the demolition.
He said members of his faction had petitioned the National Judicial Council (NJC) against Justice Monina Danagogo, who issued the ex parte order against them. “In the coming days, we will be meeting, everybody is in shock, everybody is overwhelmed so we haven’t taken a decision yet. What I know is that we are dispatching our petition to the NJC about the fraudulent court order issued by Justice Danagogo,” he said.
There were also unconfirmed reports that the governor may have sacked some of the officials he inherited from Wike on Wednesday.
Opportunity To Cut Wike To Size
However, a former National Publicity Secretary of the defunct New People’s Democratic Party, nPDP, Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, advised Fubara to take the fight to Wike and dismantle him formally without any further delay.
He advised the governor to dissolve the local government councils and the state exco for the general interest of the state and his administration.
According to him, the dissolution would enable the governor to select those who shared in his vision to be reappointed into the state exco. “If he misses this opportunity he should have himself alone to be blamed”, Eze warned.
Analysts however warned that the crisis in Rivers would get even messier in the days ahead as Wike and his loyalists are expected to react to the punches landed on them by Fubara.