In an exclusive
interview with Sunday
Independent in Port Harcourt,
Rivers State capital on Friday, the factional Speaker of the House, Evans
Bapakaye Bipi, disclosed that an impeachment notice would have been served to
Amaechi last week, but that the decision was delayed because the state
judiciary is not functional.
“I and my colleagues met last week to serve Amaechi the impeachment notice. But, we are delayed because there is no Judiciary. That is why we have to hold on. As soon as the Judiciary resumes, we will serve him”, Evans said.
But, the Deputy Speaker
of the House, Leyii Kwanee, responded that the impeachment process by the six
PDP lawmakers was “a mere rumour”.
Kwanee explained that
the Seventh Assembly has not found any fault in Amaechi that would warrant his
impeachment.
“Six of them cannot and
will never think of that. The Seventh Assembly does not see any reason to
impeach Governor Amaechi, because, he has not done anything that would warrant
his impeachment in any way.
“What you have been
hearing is a mere rumour and we cannot waste our time on that”, he stated.
On the defection of 25
lawmakers loyal to Amaechi to the All Progressives Congress (APC), Evans said
those seats have already been declared vacant by the PDP, saying that there is
a constitutional backing to such declaration.
Evans, who represents
Ogu/Bolo state constituency in the House, explained that the 1999 Constitution
is very clear on the issue of defection, noting that those who won elections on
the PDP platform and decided to defect to another party before the expiration
of their tenures have automatically lost their seats.
“Their seats have been
declared vacant. In the National Assembly, those who left PDP for APC have since
returned because they know what the constitution says.
“They don’t have any
legal reason to continue to occupy those seats because they are no more members
of the PDP”.
According to him,
Section 109 (1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) says that a member of
a House of Assembly shall vacate his seat in the House if, “being a
person whose election to the House 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”, he quoted.
In a related
development, the purported planned resignation by the Minister of State for
Education, Nyesom Wike, has continued to generate apprehension in Rivers State
between camps of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and some stakeholders.
Insider information has
revealed that the PDP in the state are cautious about Wike because he is also
of the Ikwerre tribe as Amaechi, as some of them have insisted that the party’s
slot must go to some other ethnic group to keep their chances of winning bright.
This comes as Wike’s
camp has even gone the extra mile to denounce the rumour of his resignation and
governorship ambition.
“There are also jingles
on several radio stations debunking the story, which was awash the social media
last week”.
A fresh angle to the
story emerged on Thursday that Wike has concluded arrangements to quit his
ministerial job next month to pay adequate attention to his 2015 governorship
ambition in Rivers State.
But, when contacted on
telephone Thursday, a stalwart of the PDP in Rivers State and former
Commissioner for Information in the state, Emma Okah, said it was only natural
for the minister to resign his appointment at the appropriate time.
“Following the calls by
many ethnic groups, communities and individuals in Rivers State, Barrister
Nyesom Wike should offer himself for the 2015 governorship election.
“People of the state
love him and that is why they are calling on him to come out and serve them”,
Okah said.
According to him, “if
those calls are genuine and they are positive, it means he has to offer himself
for the assignment.
“This
therefore means that if he was working, then he will naturally need to resign
at the appointed time. The minister has the discretion to resign and contest,
if he wishes”.
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