This occurred during plenary at the auditorium of the House of Assembly Quarters on Aba Road, which was converted to a hallowed chamber via a motion at the last plenary held by the factional Assembly lawmakers loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, a statement signed by Martins Wachukwu, Media Aide to Amaewhule on Wednesday said.
The factional Rivers State House of Assembly on Wednesday withdrew the impeachment notice served on the governor of the state, Sir Siminialayi Fubara.
This occurred during plenary at the auditorium of the House of Assembly Quarters on Aba Road, which was converted to a hallowed chamber via a motion at the last plenary held by the factional Assembly lawmakers loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, a statement signed by Martins Wachukwu, Media Aide to Amaewhule on Wednesday said.
Reading a letter on the floor of the House, signed by 24 members, the factional Speaker, Rt. Hon. Martin Chike Amaewhule recalled that on October 30, 2023, he read a notice of impeachment signed by 24 members of the House pursuant to Section 188 of the 1999 Constitution as altered; which contained particulars of gross misconduct, and was served on the governor.
He said following the agreement reached on December 18, 2023, at the instance of President Bola Tinubu, the House had withdrawn the notice of impeachment and would abide by the letters of the agreement and the advice of Mr. President, whom he said members had immense respect for.
He added that the factional House would continue to perform its constitutional functions of law-making and oversight for the development of the state; and lauded the President for his fatherly role in the settlement of the issues.
SaharaReporters reported on Monday, December 18, 2023, that President Tinubu had intervened in the political crisis rocking the state, as the factional Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Edison Ehie, was mandated to recognise 27 members of the Assembly who recently defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
SaharaReporters obtained the eight-point resolution from the closed-door meeting President Tinubu had with Governor Fubara; a former governor of the state, Peter Odili; Wike and other stakeholders at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The political crisis ravaging Rivers State followed a prolonged disagreement between Governor Fubara and Wike, his predecessor and political godfather.
The state was plunged into a political crisis between October 29 and 30, when the hallowed chamber of the House of Assembly was burnt, following alleged moves to impeach Governor Fubara.
The crisis led to the emergence of two factional speakers – Matins Amaewhule, loyal to Wike; and Edison Ehie, a strong supporter of Fubara.
However, as the crisis exacerbated, 27 house members said to be loyal to Wike announced their defection to the APC.
But one of them later made a U-turn.
Some commissioners loyal to Wike in Governor Fubara’s cabinet also resigned from office.
To stop the lingering crisis, the president and the stakeholders from the state held a meeting, which began Monday evening. The Federal Government during the meeting distanced itself from the political crisis.
Meanwhile, at the end of the closed-door meeting, an eight-point resolution was reached and all the stakeholders appended their signatures to bring the crisis to an end. Part of the resolution was that all the parties must withdraw cases in court.
In another development, the House considered further reports of the Adhoc Committee on the Aleto Oil Spill.
In August 2023, the Committee submitted its report on an oil spill in the Aleto community occasioned by equipment failure.
Remarking on the report, Amaewhule commended the Committee for following up on the resolutions of the House on the initial report and urged the Committee to continue and ensure that proper and full remediation was done.