The Rivers State House of Assembly has joined issues with Governor Siminalayi Fubara over his claim of being blocked from entering the House to re-present the state 2025 Appropriation Bill in line with the ruling of the Supreme Court.
He in turn says the lawmakers deliberately frustrated his attempt to make peace and make a proper presentation of the 2025 budget to the House, when he turned up at its Port Harcourt-Aba Road temporary Rivers State House of Assembly Complex, on Wednesday.
Shortly after the Governor turned up on Wednesday with a convoy at the locked gates, the Spokesperson for the House and Chairman of the Committee on Information, Dr. Enemi George, said they never received communication from the Governor indicating his interest in bringing the budget to the floor of the Assembly.
Governor Fubara, speaking during the inauguration of the Bori Zonal Hospital in Khana LGA, insisted that he followed due process to resolve the situation.
He said: “I made frantic efforts to reach the Speaker, which I believe he cannot deny, alongside other members of the Assembly.
“I even sent WhatsApp messages to them, notifying them that I would be coming at 10 am to present the budget. This was to ensure that Rivers State does not face any crisis because of me, as some have alleged.
“But unfortunately, when we got there this morning, we were denied access. And the next thing I heard was that no communication was made. I leave everything to God, who sees all things in secret.
“I am aware of reports in the media claiming there was no communication or effort on my part. So, I am using this platform to clarify the situation.
“Like I have always said, nothing lasts forever. Even the greatest power eventually comes to an end. What matters is how we use power. I have chosen not to abuse mine, no matter what they claim.
“When power is abused, it leads to situations like this. But I will remain restrained because I know that there is life after power.”
The House spokesman insisted that the letter the Governor claimed to have sent to the Speaker never got to him, saying it was after Wednesday’s sitting that the lawmakers saw the letter trending on social media.
George accused Fubara of whipping up unnecessary sentiments via a “comedy skit” scripted to paint the House in a bad light.
He said, “We were the ones, who immediately after that judgement appealed to the Governor to bring his appropriation bill. We acted immediately because we had the interest of the state at heart and didn’t want Rivers people to suffer any harm.
“Despite withholding our entitlements for over a year and demolishing our chambers, we still wanted him to hasten up the presentation in the interest of the progress of Rivers.
“We indicated our intentions in that letter and even gave him a timeframe because of the urgency of the matter. To regularise his appointments, we also urged him during our subsequent sitting to submit the names of his nominees for the positions of commissioners and some boards’ membership for screening and confirmation.
“But the Governor rebuffed our pleas. We sent employees of the Assembly to deliver these resolutions to him but as usual, they turned them down at the gate and even brutalised them. We resorted to engaging the services of a courier company.
“He still did not heed our call forgetting that there are essential services like hospitals, schools and others to be funded. Our intention was to finish everything about the budget on March 15th so that we could send necessary information and documents to relevant agencies of the government to allow the release of Rivers allocations at the end of March.
“But with what he is doing, we don’t know what he wants to achieve. How can he turn around to claim that we blocked him from re-presenting his budget?
“This is the height of insincerity. We even need the budget to be passed because the Governor has been owing us our entitlements for more than a year and without the budget, we can’t get our entitlements.
“The Governor and his team simply and deliberately acted Wednesday’s drama with a singular motive to tarnish the image of the Assembly. The Governor is simply playing to the gallery to whip up unnecessary sentiments. But it has backfired because the truth has come out.”
Speaking on the Governor’s letter to the House, George said they saw in on social media.
He said, “Even the letter trending on social media was dated March 11. Does it mean that the Governor purportedly sent a letter on Tuesday—God knows when—and immediately mobilised to the assembly quarters on Wednesday morning, claiming he came to present his budget?
“That alone vitiates the claimed purpose. It is procedurally trite that after writing to the Assembly, the Governor ought to wait for the letter to be acknowledged by the lawmakers, who will then invite him to appear before them and make his presentation. Governor Fubara ought to know this if he is sincere.
“But all we know is that this Assembly will continue to uphold the rule of law and will remain committed to promoting the interests of Rivers State.
“We urge him to do the needful so that Rivers people can breathe. He is toying with the lives and livelihood of Rivers people.”
The lawmakers had given Fubara 48-hour ultimatum to the present the budget, earlier approved by the four-member faction of the assembly loyal to him, but which the Supreme Court had said must be presented to the 27-member Rivers State House of Assembly.
The latest development comes 24 hours after President Bola Tinubu, hosting Niger Delta stakeholders at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, asked them to counsel Fubara to implement the Supreme Court verdict.
