Femi Falana, human rights lawyer and senior advocate of
Nigeria (SAN), says President Bola Tinubu “has no constitutional role” to
resolve the political crises in Rivers and Ondo states.
In a statement on Tuesday, Falana said while Tinubu may
intervene in the crises rocking the states, his intervention must always be
grounded in the provisions of the constitution.
Falana said the president’s interventions ought to be
“purely advisory” and described the reinstatement of the 27 assembly members of
Rivers assembly who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as “alien
to the constitution”.
“The seats of the cross carpeting members have been declared
vacant by the Speaker known to law. To that extent, the Independent National
Electoral Commission is mandatorily required to conduct the by-election once
the ex parte order issued by the Federal High Court last Friday is quashed,”
the statement reads.
“The 27 members of
the Rivers State House of Assembly who decamped from the PDP to APC have lost
their seats because the PDP that sponsored them is not fictionalised or divided
as stipulated by the Constitution.
“Even if all the cases in the Rivers State High Court and
the Federal High Court are withdrawn in line with the advice of the President,
it is submitted that all actions taken by the Speaker recognised by the Rivers
State High Court, remain valid, including his pronouncement on the vacant seats
of the 27 cross carpeting members of the House.
“In other words, only a court of law is constitutionally
competent to set aside the pronouncement of the Speaker which is anchored on
section 109 of the Constitution. Furthermore, as the Speaker has not been
removed by the required number of legislators, a presidential directive cannot
remove him.
“It is also necessary
to point out that until a by-election is conducted by the Independent National
Electoral Commission to fill the 27 vacant seats, the remaining members of the
House are competent to conduct legislative business except the impeachment of
the Governor which can only be carried out by the two-thirds of the entire
members of the House of Assembly.
“In view of the foregoing, the President and all the parties
involved in finding political solutions to the crisis in Rivers State are
advised to turn to the Constitution for guidance without any further delay.”
BACKGROUND
Over the past few weeks, there has been tension in Rivers
over the feud between Siminalayi Fubara, governor of Rivers, and Nyesom Wike,
his predecessor.
In the wake of the crisis, the Rivers house of assembly
commenced impeachment proceedings against Fubara which the governor’s loyalists
kicked against.
Thereafter, 27 lawmakers defected from the PDP to the All
Progressives Congress (APC).
Subsequently, Edison Ehie, factional speaker of the Rivers
assembly, declared the seats of the lawmakers who defected vacant.
On Monday, Fubara and Wike agreed to end the political feud
between them after a meeting with Tinubu.
Among the resolutions reached at the meeting, all parties to
the crisis agreed that all matters instituted in courts should be “immediately”
withdrawn, while the 27 lawmakers who defected to the APC should be taken back
as members of the assembly.
In Ondo, there were controversies around the need to hand
over power to Lucky Aiyedatiwa, the deputy governor due to health issues faced
by Rotimi Akeredolu, the state governor.
In November, Tinubu waded into the crisis in the state and
sued for peace from all parties.
On December 13, the Ondo house of assembly declared
Aiyetadiwa as acting governor of the state after receiving a medical leave
letter from the governor.
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