On Wednesday, July 16, about twenty five lawmakers in the Rivers state Houseof Assembly formally defected to the All Progressives Congress, APC. The decision to officially dump the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, was taken during a plenary session in the old banquet hall of the Government House by lawmakers loyal to Governor Rotimi Amaechi.
Twenty six of the lawmakers and the Speaker of the House, Otelemaba Dan Amachree, were on April 29, 2013, suspended by the leadership of the PDP for failing to rescind their decision on the suspension of the chairman, vice chairman and seventeen councilors of Obio/Akpor local government council. Since then, the lawmakers have on the face value been out there doing their legislative business without any party affiliation. But in the eyes of the public, they have been the backbone of Governor Amaechi administration.
In the House of thirty two members, the APC lawmakers have been sitting without the six PDP legislators, led by Hon. Evans Bapakaye Bipi.Leader of the House, Chidi Lloyd, made the declaration at the sitting of the Assembly at the Old Government HouseExecutive Council Chambers where the pro-Amaechi lawmakers have been sitting for about five months now. Only about 13 of them were present at the Wednesday’s sitting.?
He stated that they have ceased to be members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), adding that further correspondences to them should bear the APC.
“The 25 pro-Amaechi lawmakers have asked me to declare our formal defection to All Progressives Congress (APC). Henceforth, 25 of us should be referred to as All Progressives Congress.
We are telling the world today that we are all members of All Progressives Congress.
All correspondence to us should describe us as APC members.
”In his respond to the defection, the Speaker, Otelemaba Dan-Amachree, requested his colleagues to document their decision.Reacting to this development, PDP said the announcement of the formal defection of the members of the State House of Assembly loyal to Governor Amaechi to the All Progressives Congress, APC, is belated and of no consequence to the PDP.
The Party in a statement signed by the Special Adviser, Media, to the State chairman, Jerry Needam, berated the lawmakers for inundating the media with stale news, stressing that their membership of the APC was not a new development.
The PDP recalled that the same lawmakers had long ceased to be their members since they were suspended for anti-party activities and while contesting their suspension from the PDP in court went ahead to take part in the APC State-wide membership registration exercise last year which was a clear case of contempt of court.
The party, according to the statement, has continued to grow bigger and stronger without them ever since, and has never wished to have them back to its fold because they were rather a cog in the party’s wheel of progress.
The announcement, the party insists makes no other sense than to re-assure “their paymaster”, Amaechi, of their continued support in the wake of wind of change and, or impeachment of visionless and lawless State chief executives by state legislators across thecountry.
“We are the least bothered because we are not looking for liabilities which the rubber stamp lawmakers are.
Our party is on track and has lost nothing because these people had never been part of us.
The formal announcement of their defection is inconsequential and most uneventful,” the PDP noted.
The decision to officially announce their defection could be attributed to an alleged late night meeting between the Minister of state for Education, Barrister Nyesom Wike, and nine pro-Amaechi lawmakers in a certain hotel in the heart of Port Harcourt, Rivers state capital, last week.
The meeting was said to have been moderated by the state PDP chairman, Felix Obuah, after a former Minister from the state had brokered the opportunity in a meeting held in Abuja.
It was in that meeting that the pro-Amaechi lawmakers pledged to work for the re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan.
Another school of thought has it that the idea to officially announce the defection by the lawmakers was to further convince Governor Amaechi that there was no need for him to be afraid of the fate of the former Adamawa state Governor, Murtala Nyakor, who was impeached by the state House of Assembly on allegation of “gross misconduct”.There has been a wave of impeachment move against Amaechi by the six PDP lawmakers, a situation that generated an unprecedented fear in the government circle.
An insider informed this writer that the governor wanted to ascertain the loyalty of the lawmakers, hence the need for them to declare such loyalty before the public court.
On the other hand, the state PDP chairman, Obuah was quoted in a public outing as saying that more lawmakers in the House had been calling, appealing to be re-admitted into the party. “Eight of them have come asking that we should admit them back, that they have been suffering”, he was quoted.
Though Obuah did not mention the names of the eight lawmakers, it is also clear that following the constitutional provision, the defected lawmakers may stand the risk of losing their seats in the House.
It is being feared that the defected lawmakers may be running therisk of losing their seats in the House if the constitutional provision to that effectis to strictly apply.
In section 109 subsection (1) (g), the 1999 constitution as amended is explicit on this.
Some governors and lawmakers had since returned back to the PDP for fear of losing their seats. A lot more have even declared support for President Jonathan in the 2015 election. They have also raised some kind of structures to support the President’s ambition.
In an exclusive interview in Port Harcourt, the factional speaker of the House, Hon Evans Bapakaye Bipi disclosed that an impeachment notice would have been served on the state Governor, Amaechi, last week but that 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, wewill serve him”, Evans said.
But the deputy speaker of the House, Hon 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 Governor Amaechi that would warrant his impeachment. He said: “Six of them cannot and will never think of that.
The 7th 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 rumor and we cannot waste our time on that.”On the defection of twenty five 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.
”APC in its remark to this development reassured party faithful that the job of the State Governor remains very much safe.
This reassurance becomes necessary in view of the apprehension in some quarters following confirmation by APC National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, that Amaechi was one of the five APC Governors penciled down by the Presidency to be impeached before the 2015 elections. Others include the Governors of Adamawa (already impeached), Nasarawa, Edo and Borno.

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The APC has congratulated the 25 PDP lawmakers of the Rivers State House of Assembly who recently declared for APC.
By so doing, they have proved and demonstrated that they are true progressives who are resolutely committed to an egalitarian, virile and vibrant Rivers State, the party said.

With this development, the Speaker, Rtd.Hon Otelemaba Amachree, Deputy Speaker, Hon Barr Leyii Kwanee, Majority Leader, Hon Barr Chidi Llyod, Deputy Leader, Hon Ewor Nname Robinson, Acting Chief Whip, Hon. Irene M. Inimgba and others, APC now enjoys an overwhelming majority in the Rivers State House of Assembly.


http://dailyindependentnig.com/2014/07/intrigues-lawmakers-defection-rivers/

Amaechi is already a history, only 13 out of so called 25 loyal members of house of assembly actually defected to APC. No matter what Apc may want us to believe, Rivers state remains a PDP state, this is a fact all the lawmakers including Amaechi knows. One thing is sure, none of politicians including the lawmakers want to follow anybody to bottomless pit.

Only time will tell.
Watching the whole show on 4D
Glasses on

Who remembers this?

I Live in Rivers State, I can tell anyone who cares to listen that rivers state Apc only exist in three places, internet, newspapers and Rivers state government house. You need to come here to realise that APC is just an empty bottle.

9ja I hail

it is well in Jesus name

Too lenghty Too lenghty

Longeria: I Live in Rivers State, I can tell anyone who cares to listen that rivers state Apc only exist in three places, internet, newspapers and Rivers state government house. You need to come here to realise that APC is just an empty bottle.

1000 likes for u

OK.

I was here

Where Am I?

Amaechi deceiving himself since 1860.

Nigerian politicians acting comedy since 1863

...And this market gossip makes front page! smh!

Fingers crossed

Mynd44: Who remembers this?

Ameachi, let me tell you something you don't know, YOU CAN NEVER WIN THIS FIGHT AGAINST JONATHAN. And neither will he forgive you if you continue to diss him any more...he will just be calculating on how to deal with you beyond the ream of humanity. Ask Ibori! Pick up the phone, call the villa like Sanusi did and apologize...laugh it off, crack jokes and the whole thing will end. This will not affect your esteem in any way and will only make you appear more mature and loved by your people more. Get back to PDP and leave that EVIL VULTURISTIC PARTY ALONE RESPONSBILE FOR INSTILLING DISCORD BETWEEN YOU AND THE PRESIDENT...YOUR BROTHER.

the funny part is that it is a particular TRIBE that will be crying more than Rivers Indigens.



#CryingMoreThanTheBereaved

Mynd44: Who remembers this?

My friend, close your mouth and do the NEEDFUL...................

Front page.

Politics of Prostitution.....

impeachment galore

I will continue to say this , nija politics is not something u can just put mouth , except u are a politician to the call . If not, they make u look like a fool in the long run if u just dable into their dirty matter .

I wll be very shocked if I am seen as a neutral. If I may ask,; what is wrong in having an effective multi-party system? How can anybody just beat their chest and declare impossibility in a very possible scenario? Rivers could drift frm PDP and may never return on the otherhand it could be that the APC is jst a joke waiting to expire these are all possibilties. Nobody ever envisaged Rivers state or Ameachi having anything to do with another party except the PDP but here we are 2day. After all talking about possibilities Nobody ever saw an Ijaw Man becoming Nigeria's President befor an Igbo Man in modern Nigeria. Here we are 2day. An idea whose time has come is can hardly be stopped. I believe in possibilities.

Longeria: I Live in Rivers State, I can tell anyone who cares to listen that rivers state Apc only exist in three places, internet, newspapers and Rivers state government house. You need to come here to realise that APC is just an empty bottle.

If APC is really an empty bottle in Rivers as u are making to appear, then PDP should prove their might by impeaching Amaechi and that will convince all. I respect Amaechi!

pdp has ruined us....

Amaechi!!!! That guy is blessed, but Jonathan has more blessings!!!

healthy one for ameachi

That's their business!