Yesterday’s demolition of the Rivers House of Assembly by the state government has been trailed with criticisms.
The state Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, who led the convoy of demolition exercise consisting of about 10 bulldozers at about 6.45am.
The government said it was renovating the Assembly complex following the advice of consultants, who warned that the building was no longer habitable.
The government said the advice to demolish and restructure the building was predicated on the recent fire that engulfed the hallowed chambers and the need to strengthen the long-existing complex.
The Commissioner for Information, Joe Johnson, stated this, adding that the government hopes to give the renovation accelerated hearing.
The Complex was demolished amid tight security about two months after a fire gutted the complex.
The demolition, which came two days after 27 lawmakers of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) has attracted backlashes.
*It’s an act of treason, brigandage- lawyers
An Abuja-based legal practitioner, Nnaemeka Ejiofor, said for whatever guise it was, the demolition of the Assembly complex was a treasonable offence.
He said those behind the demolition should be prosecuted either immediately or later.
Ejiofor said, “The demolition of the Rivers state House of Assembly complex by whoever is purely an act of treason that can be penalised. Assuming the person who did it or who ordered it as of today has immunity upon relinquishing the immunity he can be prosecuted just like Donald Trump in America is currently being prosecuted for some of the things he did as President in the same way, a person in Nigeria who commits an act of treason or treasonable felony can also be prosecuted whenever such a person leaves office.
“It is not a question of sentiment it is a realistic measure, hurriedly drastic measure so I do not see how a project that was completed not quite eight years ago can be summarily dropped down just because you feel that members of the Assembly are after you.
“The House of Assembly building does not belong to any individual, it is the property of the people of Rivers State and every House of Assembly in Nigeria including the National Assembly is pure direct representative of the people of the state. They are superior to the executive because this is a conglomeration of all those who are cautious of Rivers state where they are fully represented individually and collectively so for anybody to go and demolish such a building it is one of the saddest days for River State.
“I watched it on social media, about 3 bulldozers or so were engaged to quickly demolish it but we must also note that the building does not make the parliament, it is the people that make the parliament so if you demolish the building where they sit they can as well move their sitting somewhere else and still take the decision they want to take.
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“It was a reckless act so by law as far as I understand the law that is an act of treason that ought to be punished no matter how long it takes to be punished or dealt with. It is treasonable. It is also a huge blow to the economy. This is the time that the government is crying, begging for money here and there, borrowing money from China and they are demolishing buildings worth billions, and tomorrow you will budget again the same billions to build it so that you can steal from its construction. It is very unfortunate, very sad.”
Another lawyer, Olatunji Salawu, said the demolition was an act of brigandage.
He said, “The Executive has nothing to do with the Assembly because they are two different arms of government. But as we have it generally in Nigeria today, the states no longer respect the principle of separation of power.
“For him to go and demolish for whatever reason without the budget to build a new one, without anything, is nothing but illegality, it is pure brigandage. For whatever reasons, it cannot be justified.”
*Legislators can reconvene anywhere, says Otubanjo
However, a research professor of International Relations and Strategic Studies at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Lagos State, Femi Otubanjo, said that Nigerians should not be too troubled about the motive for the demolition.
He said that what had been demolished was a building, adding that the house of assembly can reconstitute itself anywhere that there is space.
Otubanjo said, “The National Assembly, for example, has not been sitting in the main chamber for some time because the building is undergoing renovation. That has not in any way invalidated anything. Once the Speaker is seated, and the mace is available, they are good to go.”
He, however, noted that he would have preferred that the demolition did not come after the defection of members to another party.
On the economic implications of the demolition to the state, the former Special Adviser to two ex-chiefs of General Staff, late Lt Gen Oladipo Diya, and late Vice-Admiral Mike Akhigbe said, “We have to be careful not to go into that because if the structure is compromised, we cannot insist that it should be kept.
“At the end of the day, if it collapses on the people and hundreds die, we are going to accuse the governor of negligence. We have to give him the benefit of the doubt. The cost is of no importance, it again depends on what we consider to be the problem, if the problem is that the building is no longer useful, if it is going to constitute a danger to those who use it, then, the only thing that can be done is to destroy it despite the cost.”
Also, the Head of the Department of Political Science, Benue State University, Makurdi, Dr Pine Atah, alleged that the demolition was borne out of the political rift between the Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, and the Minister of FCT, Nyesom Wike.
He further noted that the demolition is aimed at denying the 27 members who defected to APC access to the Assembly building for parliamentary duties.
“The Governor has moved the Parliament to the Government House and he presented the state 2024 budget to five members in attendance,” he said.
Pine, however, noted that such a move was a threat to democracy, noting that the five lawmakers that received the budget from the Governor did not form a quorum.
The political scientist said what the Governor and the five members have done was against parliamentary regulations anywhere in the world.
Meanwhile, the state House of Assembly group led by Martin Amaewhule yesterday decried the demolition of the Assembly Complex by the state government, describing it as a rape of the history of the state’s legislative arm.
Reacting to the development, the spokesperson for the Amaewhule-led members of the Assembly, George Alabo, expressed shock over the demolition.
“It is sad but we are not worried, we are unbothered but what has happened is a rape on the history, history has just been murdered but it is fine, we will not be deterred,” Alabo said.
He said that all the documents and archives of the Assembly since its inception were destroyed in the demolition, “erasing” the history of the state’s legislature.
Alabo said, “We woke up this morning and we were told that the Rivers State House of Assembly Complex which has housed the activities of the House of Assembly for many years is being brought down alongside all our documents, alongside all our archives, alongside, alongside all our belongings, alongside the entire records of the Rivers State House of Assembly to date, everything is being brought down.
“No notice, no warning, people on the ground were kicked away, there was no opportunity to rescue anything. The history of the House of Assembly from its inception has just been brought down, that is what we are talking about now.
“Our archives, our legislative department, our legal department, our library, all our records, the entire history of the House of Assembly has just been brought down in one fell swoop, that is the sorry state we have found ourselves.”
On Tuesday, a state high court sitting in Port Harcourt restrained the Amaewhule-led group pending the hearing of a suit before it.
Alabo faulted the court order, saying that it encouraged the demolition of the assembly complex.
Asked about the next move by the 27 members led by Amaewhule, Alabo said they would meet to know what next to do. He also confirmed that they have petitioned the National Judicial Council (NJC) against Justice Monina Danagogo, who issued the ex parte order against them.
“In the coming days, we will be meeting, everybody is in shock, everybody is overwhelmed so we haven’t taken a decision yet. What I know is that we are dispatching our petition to the NJC about the fraudulent court order issued by Justice Danagogo,” he said.
*Assembly declares 25 seats vacant
The Rivers House of Assembly has moved a motion declaring vacant the 25 seats of members who recently defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The motion was unanimously supported by the four-member assembly, led by Edison Ehie (PDP-Ahoada 11), during yesterday’s plenary.
In his remark, Speaker Ehie said that the house had received notices and correspondences including newspaper publications from 25 members of the house on their formal defection from PDP to the APC.
“We are aware that it is the right of members and for every Nigerian as regards freedom of association.
“While we respect that constitutional right, we are also mindful as a legislative assembly of our allegiance to the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended and our oaths of office to defend the constitution which is our guide.
“The actions of these honourable members and colleagues who have been on suspension is a gross violation of the constitution which provides that a member of the state house of assembly shall only defect to another party other than the party on whose platform they were elected if there is a division or crises in the parent party.
‘As we all know, there is no crisis in our great party, the PDP, therefore, the provision of section 109, sub 1, paragraph G of the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria as amended attracts a vacation of the seats of these affected members,” Ehie said.
He also noted that there was no crisis or division in the party (PDP) as it had continued to operate with an undivided national leadership.
“Our party structure at the state level is also intact with a working committee led by Mr Chukwu Emeka as our state party chairman,” he added.
*Twist over defected lawmaker’s return to PDP as APC bicker
Meanwhile, the political crisis in Rivers State triggered by the defection of 27 members of the House of Assembly from the PDP to the APC took a twist with reports that two of the lawmakers, Tonye Adoki, Port Harcourt Constituency II and Linda Stalwart, Okirika State Constituency had returned to the party.
However, the claim concerning Adoki was quickly rebuffed by the now-suspended lawmaker who dismissed the claims of his return to the PDP.
Taking to his social media pages, he said, “It has come to my knowledge that some jobless and misguided youths are being used to spread fake News that I, Hon Tonye Adoki have reneged from my defection move. It is on record that I was among the Lawmakers who advocated for this defection to the All Progressives Congress, APC, and I owe no one any apology.
“And I am still a Member of APC. I am also using this medium to warn anyone carrying such news on his or her platform to be ready to defend it when the time comes. I am not the kind of politician you toy with.”
However, the position of Ms Stalwart in the Rivers State political crisis remained in suspense as she has remained mum.
A faction of the APC originally loyal to the penultimate governor of the state, Rotimi Amaechi formally disowned the defecting lawmakers.
The chairman of the dissolved Rivers State Working Committee of the APC, Chief Emeka Beke, in his formal response to the political crisis, disowned the defectors from the PDP saying that they are not welcome.
