Kelvin Bowoto
Rt. Hon. Martins Amaewhule, Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, stated that state lawmakers were astonished when Governor Siminalayi Fubara withheld his assent to four measures recently enacted into law by the House.
The four bills are: the Rivers State House of Assembly Fund Management Bill, the Rivers State Local Government Law (Amendment) Bill, the Rivers State Traditional Rulers’ Law (Amendment) Bill, and the Rivers State Advertisement and Use of State-owned Property Prohibition (Repeal) Bill.
Fubara, in letters to the House of Assembly, argued that such revisions would cause confusion and violate constitutional restrictions.
As a result, at its 99th parliamentary session, the House voted to overturn the governor’s rejection of the four proposals, citing Section 100(5) of the 1999 Federal Republic of Nigeria Constitution as amended.
Amaewhule spoke on Wednesday during an advocacy visit to members of the State House of Assembly in Port Harcourt by the state’s All Progressives Congress (APC) leadership.
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He explained that the parliamentarians opted to override the executive’s objections to the laws to boost the state’s democratic process.
The Speaker stated, “There is nothing the tenth assembly has done under my watch that is illegal.
There is nothing we have done in plenary, committee, or oversight that violates the provisions of the law.
“We are guided by the law and I’m happy that Rivers people are seeing our determination to do the work for which we were elected.”
Amaewhule argued that it was time for people to start embracing the concept of the separation of powers.
He stated, “People must understand where their powers begin and end. Where your rights end, your neighbor’s rights begin.”
Techrectory with Agency Report.
