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A group of 60 federal lawmakers on Wednesday said the 27 lawmakers of the Rivers State House of Assembly whose seats were declared vacant in December 2023 following their defection to the All Progressives Congress from the Peoples Democratic Party, lack the powers to serve Governor Siminalayi Fubara impeachment notice.
In a telephone interview with PUNCH Online on Wednesday night, the spokesman for the group and member representing Ideato South/North Federal Constituency, Ikenga Ugochinyere, slammed the lawmakers for calling for Fubara’s impeachment.
“The call for the impeachment of the governor is a call to anarchy that will lead to the collapse of democracy if the President doesn’t call them to order.
“Unless there is a supreme order of the court, these 27 lawmakers have lost their seats. We cannot allow this absurdity because the APC Minister is working with the president and you now want to overthrow a legitimate Governor.
“The President needs to intervene because it is issues like these that led to the collapse of democracy in the 70s and 80s. If they are popular, they should contest fresh elections,” he said.
According to the G-60 lawmakers, the purported veto of the powers of the governor by the group of 27 persons “Parading themselves as Rivers State lawmakers” was nothing but legislative rascality taken too far.
The 60 federal lawmakers stated this in a formal reaction to the alleged overriding of the assent of Governor Fubara to pass the Rivers State Public Procurement (Amendment) Bill 2024.
Fubara has been involved in a fierce political battle with the lawmakers since falling out with his political godfather and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mr Nyesom Wike.