The Rivers State House of Assembly, led by Victor Oko-Jumbo, has condemned the resolution by the Martin Amaewhule-led House barring Governor Siminalayi Fubara from spending public funds. Speaker Victor Oko-Jumbo stated this in his opening remarks during the plenary on Tuesday.

He declared that the actions of Amaewhule and the 24 others, whom he referred to as former members of the House, were unfounded and without validity. Oko-Jumbo argued that the group had no legal capacity or moral basis to bar the governor from spending public funds. He insisted that Amaewhule and his followers ceased to be members of the Assembly after defecting from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in December 2023.

Supporting his argument, Oko-Jumbo noted that the section of the constitution addressing defection is self-executing. This section was further enforced when Edison Ehie, legally recognized by a court as the Speaker, declared the 25 seats vacant. Oko-Jumbo emphasized that the Assembly under his leadership is the legally recognized body managing the statutory allocation of the House.

READ ASLO: Amaewhule-Led Rivers Assembly Stops Fubara from Spending

He explained that Governor Fubara had duly presented the appropriation bill to the House when Edison Ehie was the Speaker, and it was subsequently passed and signed into law. The House is now awaiting the presentation of the medium-term expenditure framework for the 2025 fiscal year. Oko-Jumbo urged the public to disregard Amaewhule's pronouncement and called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct bye-elections to fill the 25 vacant seats in the House without delay.

On Monday, the Martin Amaewhule-led House of Assembly shut down all expenditures of the Rivers State governor following a seven-day ultimatum for the governor to present his budget before the House. The Leader of the House, Major Jack, raised the motion after informing the House about the expiration of the ultimatum. The House then voted to shut down the Rivers State Consolidated Revenue Account, preventing Governor Fubara’s administration from spending any money on behalf of the state.

Earlier, Governor Fubara had presented the budget to lawmakers loyal to him, led by Edison Ehie, who is now the governor’s chief of staff. Ehie and the lawmakers had passed the budget estimates, which Fubara later signed into law.