By Ehichioya Ezomon
The crisis in the Rivers State polity is escalating and cascading in line with the advice of supporters of Governor Siminalayi Fubara - and literally as demanded by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) - to adopt the Governor Godwin Obaseki playbook of taking no prisoners, to deal with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and former Governor of Rivers State, Mr Nyesom Wike, for meddling in the running of affairs of the state.
The Fubara backers' bare-knuckle approach, and PDP's demand converge at commencing the assault on Wike from the Rivers State House of Assembly, to flush out pro-Wike 27 lawmakers of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and install as the de facto the Fubara-backed four PDP members of the assembly. The 27 APC members decamped from the PDP on December 11.
For perspective, Governor Obaseki of Edo State adopted a scorched-earth approach to dealing with his "political enemies" when he'd his back against the wall after he's denied the APC ticket for re-election in the September 2020 governorship.
Former Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole - as national chairman of the APC - frustrated Obaseki from obtaining the APC ticket. Obaseki then decamped, secured the PDP ticket, and defeated the APC candidate, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, on the basis of a voter-backlash against Oshiomhole.
For vendetta, Obaseki prompted the suspension of Oshiomhole by his APC ward executive in Etsako West Local Government Area of Edo State, and eventual sack by the courts as APC's national chairman.
Obaseki also ruled Edo for four years with a minority 10 members in the 24-member Edo State House of Assembly. While defying court orders to inaugurate the majority 14 APC members until their supposed tenure lapsed in June 2023, Obaseki housed the minority members at the Osadebey Avenue Government House in Benin City, as he dismantled the House of Assembly complex under the guise of rehabilitation.
In-like manner, Governor Fubara's supporters have recommended the Obaseki tactics to him: to demolish and lock-up the Rivers Assembly; relocate the four PDP members to the Government House; revoke the certificate of occupancy and demolish Wike's house in Port Harcourt; and probe the Wike administration, of which Fubara was Accountant-General. That's a call for Fubara to probe himself!
Fubara - perhaps made of sterner stuff than his mien portrays - has bought the warmongers' counsel to assault Wike, beginning with the assembly demolition, and legally, proxily declaring vacant the seats of the 27 APC members.
This accords with the call by the PDP on the Speaker Edison Ehie-led four-member chamber to declare vacant the 27 APC members' seats, to enable INEC conduct fresh election into those state constituencies, "by virtue of the provision of Section 109(1)(g) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended)," as relayed by the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Hon. Debo Ologunagba.
Mr Ologunagba said: "The PDP asserts that by defecting from the PDP, the political party platform on which they were elected into the Rivers State House of Assembly, the seats of the respective 27 former lawmakers have become vacant by virtue of the provision of Section 109(1)(g) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).
"For the avoidance of doubt, Section 109(1) of the 1999 Constitution provides that, "a member of a House of Assembly shall vacate his seat in the House if… (g) being a person whose election to the House of Assembly was sponsored by a political party, he becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that House was elected…
"By reason of the above constitutional provision and its clear interpretation by the Supreme Court, the 27 defected members of the Rivers State House of Assembly have vacated and lost their seats, rights, privileges, recognition and obligations accruable to members of the Rivers State House of Assembly."
Ologunagba added: "The PDP therefore demands that the Speaker of the Rivers State House Assembly immediately comply with the provision of the Constitution by declaring the seats of the 27 former lawmakers vacant.
"In view of the vacancy now exiting in the 27 State Constituencies in Rivers State, the PDP demands that INEC should within the stipulated period under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) conduct fresh election to fill the vacancies."
But Ologunagba cleverly avoided highlighting an exception to the rule in a proviso to Section 109(1)(g), which caveats that:
"Provided that his (defector's) membership of the latter political party is not as a result of division in the political party of which he was previously a member or of a merger of two or more political parties or faction by one of which he was previously sponsored."
The PDP knows the truth: that the law won't avail the party's request, as the defectors breached no provisions of the Constitution, especially if they can prove that going by the reality on the ground, there's division in the PDP, particularly in the Rivers chapter, which's on all fours with the provision of Section 109(2) regarding division in their previous political party.
So, the PDP's only option is recourse to the court, to restrain the 27 APC members, to pave the way for a four-member legislature for the Fubara government. And that's what the party did on December 12 through minority Speaker Edison Ehie of the Rivers assembly.
Presented with a golden opportunity, the PDP directed the Speaker of its four members in the 32-member assembly, to declare vacant the seats of the 27 APC members, and asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct fresh elections into the 27 state constituencies within the stipulated period.
To achieve the goal, a Port Harcourt high court, presided by Justice Monina Danagogo, on December 12, restrained the Speaker, Martins Amaewhule and Deputy Speaker, Dumle Maol of the majority 27 APC lawmakers from accessing the assembly for any legislative duties.
While the judge recognised the minority Speaker Ehie as the "authentic Speaker" of the House of Assembly, and dangled a "contempt of court" before Mr Amaewhule, if he forcefully gained entry into the assembly, or disrupted the legislative activities of the Ehie-led four-member chamber, he adjourned hearing of the motion on notice to December 21.
And pronto, minority Speaker Ehie declared vacant the seats of the 27 APC members, and directed INEC to fill the seats in a fresh election. So, Governor Fubara and the PDP have secured, by legal means, what social media warmongers had advised Fubara to do: to demolish and shut the assembly on the pretext of renovation, as a result of thugs setting the complex on fire, to prevent alleged moves to impeach Fubara.
The Rivers chapter of the APC has threatened to report Justice Danagogo to the National Judicial Council (NJC), for what the chapter's Caretaker Committee Chairman, Chief Tony Okocha, described as a "jankara (procured) judgment" given by the judge.
Accusing the judge of bias, Mr Okocha, in a statement on December 12, said: "Today, Rivers people woke up to hear that one Justice Danagogo of the Rivers State High Court granted, with impunity, an exparte order to one Hon. Edison Ehie, recognizing him as Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
"It will be recalled that the same Hon. Edison had approached a Federal High Court in Rivers State, seeking to be declared as Speaker in the case in issue; arguments have been taken and judgment reserved for January 2024.
"Surprisingly today, on same subject matter, Justice Danagogo granted an exparte order purporting to recognize Hon. Edison as Speaker of the Assembly. This is flagrant abuse of court processes.
"The judge claimed that the case was filed by Hon. Edison on October 30, 2023, and assigned to him on November 1, 2023. For all these length of time, if the subject matter required urgency, why did the judge wait till today, December 12, 2023 to grant an exparte order?"
Okocha recalled that 27 PDP members of the Rivers Assembly publicly cross-carpeted to the APC on December 11, citing irreconcilable crisis in the PDP - "a move supported by Section 109(1)(g) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria" - and they were "handsomely received" by the Rivers APC.
"It is the palpable fear of the irreparable loss and the concomitant chornout that has led to the procurement of an exparte order from the court of Justice Danagogo," Okocha said.
Noting that, "Justice Danagogo is younger brother to Dr. Tammy Danagogo, who serves in the Rivers State government as the Secretary to State Government," Okocha accused the judge of berating the NJC, "who had decided against the granting of frivolous exparte by judges and have punished erring judges and justices who ventured."
"We use this medium to send notice, in advance, to the learned Judge that the APC Rivers State will not sit and watch the jankara exparte order in clear violation of principles of law (and) in clear violation of the NJC," Okocha said, adding, "we shall be left with no option than to petition to the NJC if the Judge does not reverse himself immediately."
Saying that, "we know that the reason for this affront on democracy is to allow the governor to present the 2024 budget to the assembly," Okocha queried: "Can four members of Rivers State House of Assembly sit in leadership over 31-member house with the other 27 members who have defected to APC?" (Well, the Speaker Ehie-led four-member chamber had deliberated and passed an N800bn 2024 budget in less than 24 hours, and the appropriation bill signed into law by Governor Fubara immediately it's presented to him).
In closing, Okocha advised Governor Fubara to "refrain from any action that may escalate the political tension orchestrated by his party, the PDP, in Rivers State."
"We as a party, APC, with the overwhelming majority in the House, shall not tolerate intimidation, harassment, hounding and threatening of our party members in whatsoever and howsoever way," Okocha said.
"We will not comply with the order (by Justice Danagogo) because you cannot place something on nothing. We will not allow illegality to stand. It (order) is procured and we will not allow it to happen."
For months, there's been a running battle between Mr Wike and his political protégé, Mr Fubara. As the battleground, the House of Assembly was initially shut by the Police over arson to a part of the complex, which's been demolished by the Rivers government.
It's no secret that Wike hand-picked Fubara, his Accountant-General, for the post of governor, and campaigned for him amid pressure from the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), which declared Fubara wanted for alleged financial sleaze.
Speculations indicate that Fubara signed a "gentleman's agreement" to give Wike a "substantial" share in the composition of the State Executive Council (SEC) and a controlling stake in running of the government.
According to the Wike camp, Fubara could hardly wait for Wike to take appointment in the ruling APC government of President Bola Tinubu "before he showed his colour of who he really is: a pretender, who hid his fangs under Wike's administration in Rivers State."
Fubara's declaration lately "never to surrender his mandate to intimidation and blackmail" may lend credence to the claim by the Wike camp. At the quarterly general meeting of Rivers State Council of Traditional Rulers in Port Harcourt, Fubara said:
"Let us not forget that Rivers State is our collective inheritance, presently under my watch, to protect, defend and advance it as the governor.
"I assure you that I will not fail in this responsibility nor will I surrender our mandate and progress to intimidation, blackmail and deliberate sabotage."
Relatedly, former Governor Oshiomhole had single-handedly picked Obaseki - who's the nominal chairman of the Economic Strategy Team (EST) that secured financing for major projects of Oshiomhole's administration - for governor in 2016, and vigorously campaigned for him to win the September election of that year.
But no sooner Obaseki got into power than he revealed his real persona, accusing Oshiomhole - as Fubara did to Wike - of trying to dictate the pace of his government as a political godfather, thus feigning ignorance of the fact that had Oshiomhole not played the role of a godfather, his (Obaseki's) governorship ambition would've been stillborn.
At the peek of his assaults on Oshiomhole, Obaseki banned him from coming to Edo State without his express permission; engineered thugs to attack him at the Benin airport; deployed bulldozers and trucks to block access to Oshiomhole's private residence in Benin City; revoked the certificates of occupancy and/or demolished private and business property of Oshiomhole's associates; and sacked Oshiomhole's aides in government.
Fubara is also on a similar warpath in Rivers, directing Wike's aides in government to resign or be sacked by today, December 18, even as several Commissioners had voluntarily resigned before the directive. Next maybe Wike's house in Port Harcourt, which supporters had asked Fubara to revoke and demolish.
Yet, these come as Fubara's continued to sue for peace, and reaffirmed Wike as his "oga" (master), and that the "recent political events in the state belonged to the past."
It's during rededication service of the 2023/2024 legal year of the Rivers State judiciary on November 9, where Wike's present, shook hands with Fubara when he came into the church, and sat with him in the front pew for the service.
In his speech, Fubara said: "My oga (referring to Wike) remains my oga. Whatever that has happened is in the past.
"I want us to continue to pray for the peace and development of this state. I have not sent anybody (his supporters) to malign anybody (Wike)."
But from current happenings, Fubara's declaration was for the gods, and to the dogs. He appears to have crossed the rubicon, and wants to demytify and dismantle Wike's political power, structure and machine in Rivers State, just as Obaseki did to Oshiomhole in Edo State.
Can Fubara succeed, given that the same Wike, now ranged against him in Rivers State, was behind Obaseki's assault on Oshiomhole? Wike, backing Obaseki to the hilt - financially and "judicially" - relocated to Benin City and neutralised all plans by Oshiomhole, the APC and then Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to defeat Obaseki during the 2020 governorship in Edo State.
And for the fight for the soul of Rivers State, Wike, who's labelled Fubara "an ingrate," threw down the gauntlet at a media parley in Abuja, and dared Fubara to pick up the challenge.
"Nobody can take away the political structure in Rivers," Wike boasted. "Nobody can intimidate me. If I want to do something, I will do it. The impeachment (moves against Fubara) is not a military coup, it is provided under the (amended 1999) Constitution."
This led to the defection of 27 pro-Wike PDP lawmakers in the 32-member Rivers Assembly to the APC on December 11, who've been checkmated by Fubara-backed four PDP members, whose minority Speaker Ehie has been recognised by a Port Harcourt high court, as the "authentic Speaker" of the House.
Interesting and anxious times ahead in Rivers State polity, as both camps in the Rivers State House of Assembly lay claim to the demolished chamber, and holding separate sessions to pass bills and resolutions for the growth and advancement of the state. The public watches and awaits the outcome of the escalating scenario!
• Mr Ezomon, Journalist and Media Consultant, writes from Lagos, Nigeria.
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