Rivers Assembly’s actions will ground Fubara’s government and stop civil servants’ March salaries –  Commissioner

He disclosed this in a press statement on Monday, hours after the Rivers State House of Assembly served a notice of alleged misconduct against Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his deputy Ngozi Odu.

Naijaonpoint previously reported that the lawmakers claimed the action was in line with the Nigerian Constitution.

“In compliance with Section 188 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and other extant laws, we the undersigned members of the Rivers State House of Assembly hereby forward to you a Notice of Gross Misconduct by the Deputy Governor of Rivers State in the performance of the functions of her office,” the notice read.

“Upon receipt of the notice, Amaewhule forwarded the same to Governor Fubara and said the allegation was raised by 26 lawmakers “which is not less than one-third (1/3) of the membership of the Rivers State House of Assembly”.

Speaker Amaewhule asked Fubara to “reply to the allegations made against you in the said Notice of Allegations of Gross Misconduct accordingly”.

He added “In doing this, your attention is drawn to the provisions of Section 188(3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), which provides thus: ‘Within 14 days of the presentation of the notice to the Speaker of the House of Assembly (whether or not any statement made by holder of the office in reply to the allegation contained in the notice) the House of Assembly shall resolve by motion, without any debate whether or not the allegation shall be investigated.’

“It is glaringly clear that with the current actions of the House, the dire consequences and harsh realities that the civil servants, retirees and people of the state will face unimaginable economic hardships, as the government will be unable to pay salaries, pensions and other emoluments as well as perform other obligations at the end of the month, as both the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Accountant-General of the Federation have been ordered to seize revenue allocations to the state until its judgment is fully implemented.

“The collateral damages of the actions of the legislative arm of government in Rivers will be so severe as non-release of warehoused revenues due the state from the Federation Account will ultimately ground the operation of all sectors of the government,” he stated.

He stated that the lawmakers should stop their ” futile image laundry”.

He insisted that Governor Siminalayi Fubara is willing and ready to re-present the 2025 budget and carry out full implementation of all aspects of the judgment of the Apex Court for the sake of peace.

He warned that if the lawmakers fail to make a U-turn, the people and residents of Rivers State are bound to suffer avoidable calamities of economic, social and political upheavals that might sink the state deeper into unimaginable crises.