PDP asks IGP to stop pro-Wike lawmakers from disrupting governance

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called on Inspector General of Police Kayode Egbetokun to caution the 27 ousted members of the Rivers State House of Assembly against actions that could disrupt Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s administration. In a press statement on Wednesday, PDP National Publicity Secretary Debo Ologunagba noted that these lawmakers, who had pledged allegiance to former Governor Nyesom Wike, openly defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC). Ologunagba cited the 1999 Constitution, stating that their defection disqualifies them from holding legislative positions in the assembly, and therefore, they lack the authority to convene or issue directives to the governor. Ologunagba, in the statement, said, “The national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), for the umpteenth time, cautions the former members of the Rivers State House of Assembly who lost their seats upon defection from the PDP to the All Progressives Congress (APC) @OfficialAPCNg to desist from actions and utterances that are capable of disrupting peace and governance in the State. “The Party counsels the former lawmakers to wake up to the reality that they are no longer members of the Rivers State House of Assembly by virtue of the self-executory provision of Section 109 (1) (g) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and as such cannot gather or issue any notice to the State Governor in the capacity of members of Rivers State House of Assembly,” he explained. According to the party’s national spokesperson, the caution followed the former lawmakers’ purported seven-day ultimatum issued from an unknown location to the governor to re-present the 2024 state’s budget already passed and signed into law. Ologunlagba said the action by pro-Wike lawmakers’ seeking to assume the powers of the state assembly “is apparently with the intension to cause crisis, undermine and disrupt the Democratic and Constitutional Order in the State in clear violation of Section 1 sub-section 2 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).” “Having irretrievably lost their seats upon their defection from the PDP, the political Party platform upon which they were elected into the Rivers State House of Assembly, they cannot enjoy the powers, rights, privileges, recognition and obligations of members of the Rivers State House of Assembly,” Mr Ologunagba insisted. The party, therefore, charged the IG “to note the subversive action of these former lawmakers and take immediate action to protect the Institution of Democracy, peace and security in Rivers State.” He also urged the state’s residents to stay vigilant, uphold the law, and collaborate towards maintaining stability, peace, and the delivery of democratic benefits under the party’s leadership.

Wike vs Fubara: Bode George calls for intervention in Rivers crisis 

A former deputy national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has appealed to the party’s elders and stakeholders to intervene in the ongoing political crisis in Rivers State.  George, also a member of the PDP Board of Trustees (BOT), stressed the importance of the elders’ intervention to prevent the escalation of the crisis into a national catastrophe.  Also, he urged President Bola Tinubu not to perceive the issue solely as a PDP concern but to intervene in order to prevent any potential breakdown of law and order within the state. The State House of Assembly has been polarised since 2023 following the rift between Gov. Sim Fubara and Nyesom Wike, minister, Federal Capital Territory FCT. The crisis, which has led to several threats to impeach the governor, assumed a new dimension on Wednesday when lawmakers loyal to Fubara appointed a factional speaker of the House of Assembly. Lawmakers loyal to Wike had recently defected to APC. Reacting, George said the crisis in Rivers was a time bomb waiting to explode. Insisting that the oil-rich state belongs to PDP, Mr George advised that nobody should sit on the fence and pretend as if everything was okay. He said Section 109 (1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution states that a member of a House of Assembly shall vacate his seat in the House if “ 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”, George said that all the PDP lawmakers who defected to the All Progressives Congress, APC, had automatically lost their seats. The PDP chieftain said: “They are in no position to threaten Governor Fubara. So, their plot to commence impeachment proceedings against the governor is already in vain. “Rivers people belong to PDP. Those threatening to impeach the governor are being remote-controlled by some forces. “This must stop because if Rivers is set on fire today, that may end this democracy. “We should remember ‘Operation Wetie’ which started in the defunct Western Region and eventually consumed the nation and ended the First Republic in 1966. “All the actors in this crisis in Rivers should avoid actions likely to cause breach of peace and breakdown of law and order in our country.” According to him, members of the Board of Trustees of the party should be the elders in the room, act swiftly and nip this crisis in the bud before it consumes everybody. He said that all the gladiators should also think of the collective interest of Nigerians. “Whether we are members of PDP, APC or other parties, we should stop issuing provocative statements to increase the tension in Rivers. “Any move that can truncate this democracy must be stopped immediately. Enough is enough,” he said.