Rivers Assembly’s show of shame ... on Tuesday.
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The political crisis in Rivers State
degenerated on Tuesday as an attempt to impeach the Speaker of the House of
Assembly, Mr. Otelemaba Amachree, sparked a free-for-all.
Five members of the House opposed to Governor
Rotimi Amaechi had engaged about 13 of their colleagues in a fight shortly after
the pro-governor lawmakers resisted the move to remove Amachree.
The Leader of the House, Mr. Chidi Lloyd; Michael
Chinda and Martins Amahule, were however, not lucky as they sustained serious
injures during the fracas.
Amachree is known to be one of the governor’s
strong supporters in the crisis ravaging the state since the past four
months.
The five anti-Amaechi members, who were present
at the House as early as 8am on Tuesday, had after procuring a fake mace,
decided to take charge of the sitting after waiting to no avail for the Speaker
and his Deputy, Mr. Leyii Kwanee, to arrive.
It was gathered that one of the anti-Amaechi
lawmakers, Mr. Kelechi Wogu, moved a motion for Amaechree’s removal as the
Speaker, a development, which infuriated Lloyd.
Lloyd was said to have dashed out of the Assembly
with about four pro-Amaechi’s lawmakers to inform the governor about the
development.
Before Lloyd and the four lawmakers returned to
the House, the five anti-Amaechi members of the Assembly had already impeached
Amachree and elected Evans Bipi as his successor in a sitting that was
described as a kangaroo plenary. Amaechree was accused of ineptitude.
It was, however, at the point where Bipi was
about giving his acceptance speech that Amaechi, Lloyd, Amachree, other
lawmakers and security operatives arrived at the Assembly.
• Amaechi watches show of shame:
The House was immediately turned into a boxing
arena as a majority of the lawmakers fought one another with dangerous
objects.
Lloyd and Amahule, who sustained serious
injuries were rushed to the hospital for treatment. Lloyd accused Bipi and
Chinda of using the tripod of a camera to hit him several times.
Scores of policemen, who were present when the
incident occurred, watched helplessly as the legislators threw punches at one
another.
Bipi was said to have punched the lawmaker from
Abua/Odual Constituency, Mr. Augustine Ngo, who fell on the ground and was able
to get back to his feet with the help of his aides.
Some computer sets in the Assembly were also
destroyed during the fight.
• Police ignore gov’s arrest order
Amaechi, who was apparently shocked by the
development, ordered the arrest of the five lawmakers allegedly fomenting
trouble in the Assembly but he was ignored by policemen who appeared to be
divided on the crisis.
Calm however returned to the Assembly 30 minutes
after the five anti-Amaechi lawmakers left the chamber of the Assembly even as
their leader made spirited efforts to be allowed to be part of the
sitting.
The Assembly later sat with Amaechree taking over
as the authentic Speaker , even as the Deputy Governor, Mr. Tele Ikuru,
presented a document for the amendment of the 2013 Budget to the House.
• Thugs attack Deputy gov, journalists
Ikuru and some members of the Government House
Press Crew were said to have been attacked by suspected thugs after they left
the Assembly complex.
Narrating how he was battered by anti-Amaechi
lawmakers, Lloyd, who spoke to one of our correspondents from his hospital
bed, said, “We went in as members who had not seen ourselves for sometime
because of the crisis in the state.
“I was on my seat and without provocation, Bipi
came to me in the full glare of everybody and started punching me.
“As his leader, I did not react because I felt
that it was something we could settle; whatever it was, maybe I didn’t greet him
also. So when that continued, the speaker intervened.
“Then he (Bipi) reached out for the tripod that
stands the camera, used it freely on me, himself and Chinda. They flogged me to
their satisfaction, I didn’t just utter a word until I was asked to run
because they had brought in people with guns. When I looked at the gallery,
they were shouting who is the Lloyd, who is the Lloyd.
“So at that point, I’m sure somebody may have
reached out to the governor of the state, who came in with his own security
because these other policemen were there standing helplessly and watching what
was going on. So he came and rescued members out of the place. ”
Llyold said with the non-challant attitude of the
Police, he had become “so helpless.”
He lamented, “I don’t know who to run to. I can’t
go to the commissioner of police because he is already in the arena; he’s
already on the other side. I’m appealing to well-meaning Nigerians to pray for
me and my family.
“Nigerians should pray for me and come to our
aid. I want to use this opportunity while in the hospital here, I have received
phone calls of threat to life for my family and I. The state (Rivers) is under
siege. You can’t even vouch for the safety of the governor.”
He said before the free-for-all broke out,
Amachree had directed that the Assembly be reconvened to consider an amendment
to the 2013 appropriation law which Amaechi had communicated to him
(Speaker).
The Assembly leader explained that because the
speaker sensed danger, he requested the Clerk of the House to write the
Commissioner of Police and the commander of 2 Amphibious Brigade who also
doubles as the head of the internal JTF to provide security for Tuesday’s
plenary.
He alleged that the the Anti-Amaechi lawmakers
procured a fake mace which they used to convene.
• I’m still in charge –Speaker:
After the brawl, Amaechree and Bipi disagreed on
who was the authentic speaker of the Assembly.
Amaechree, who spoke with newsmen in Port
Harcourt shortly after presiding over the plenary, said it would be impossible
for five out of the 32 lawmakers to impeach him or Amaechi.
He alleged that that Bipi, who attacked him
and Lloyd, brought in hoodlums into the Assembly to also unleash mayhem on
his colleagues.
Amaechree said the Assembly would send a formal
complaint to the National Assembly on the development, adding that though the
lawmakers had adjourned indefinitely.
He said, “As far as this Assembly is concerned,
the leadership has not changed. I am the Speaker of Rivers State House of
Assembly and all the other officers and the Clerk are here with me. The
leadership of the House is intact and what Bipi told you is pure fallacy.
“The Assembly will continue to sit, but for now,
we have adjourned sine die (indefinitely), but we can reconvene anytime. For the
Assembly to impeach the speaker, two-thirds of members must agree. Now, count
how many members that are with me here. We are 23 members here, you can count
us. No mace was brought into the Assembly.”
He, however, explained that members would meet
to determine the disciplinary action that would be taken against the five
anti-Amaechi lawmakers.
• I am the new speaker – Bipi
But Bipi, who spoke in a telephone interview
with The PUNCH, said he was currently in charge of the affairs of the
Assembly.
The lawmaker representing Ogu Bolo
Constituency, pointed out that though his aim was not to impeach the governor,
he could do so if Amaechi failed to comport himself.
The anti-Amaechi lawmaker expressed anger that
the governor could leave Government House to supervise the impeachment of a
speaker.
“I have no intention to remove the governor of
Rivers State. But if the need to remove him arose , I would do that. Now, I
am the Speaker of the Assembly because I was duly elected.”
• Rivers CP confirms knowledge of
crisis
Rivers State Police Commissioner, Mr. Joseph
Mbu, said he received a call from Amaechi, informing him that he was going
to the Assembly because some lawmakers complained that they were not safe.
He also confirmed Lloyds’ claim that he was
requested via a letter from the Clerk of the Assembly to provide police
security because of the resumption of sitting of the Assembly.
Mbu noted that he granted the request by
sending half a unit to the Assembly for security.
He said, “At about 21.00hrs of same yesterday
(Tuesday), the Brigade Commander wrote to me requesting me to please provide
police personnel to the House of Assembly. He attached a letter written to him
by the same Assembly requesting the presence of soldiers in today’s (Tuesday)
sitting.
“It was there and then I called the Commander of
Mopol 19, CSP Braide, to send half a unit to the House of Assembly. On my way to
the office, I saw the mobile police personnel and detachment of C4I, Civil
Defence with sniffer dogs checking persons going in and out of the Assembly
gate.
“I then sent my deputy commissioner of police in
charge of operations and the assistant commissioner of police operations to go
there. The next thing I got was a call from the governor that he was going to
the House of Assembly; that his members were not safe.
“I saw his convoy through my office window
driving into the Assembly. I was told he was in the chambers where there was
fighting with all his aides ”
• Reps wade in
The House of Representatives had beefed up its
ad hoc committee on the crisis in Rivers State, by including the Majority Whip,
Mr. Ishaka Bawa; and the Deputy Leader, Mr. Leo Ogor, on the membership.
The development followed a complaint by a
lawmaker from the state, Mr. Andrew Uchendu, who reported that “militants and
ex-militants” disrupted the sitting of the State House of Assembly in Port
Harcourt
“Over 20 militants and ex-militants invaded the
state House of Assembly this morning and disrupted the activities of the House.
The Commissioner of Police was informed but no action was taken to stop the
attackers.
“People were injured; as I speak, members of the
House insist on sitting with their blood-stained clothes”, Uchendu told his
colleagues.
Uchendu said he was not surprised by the alleged
failure of the police to act, owing to the raging feud between the state command
and the state Governor, Amaechi.
“What is happening in Rivers State today is not
democracy in action. We fought so hard for this democracy that people are toying
with today”, he added.
The House had set up an ad hoc committee last
week to intervene in the crisis after relations between Amaechi and the state
police command deteriorated to a point of name-calling.
The Deputy Speaker of the House, Mr. Emeka
Ihedioha, who presided over Tuesday’s session, expressed shock over the turn of
events in Rivers State.
He stated that the House was committed to finding
a peaceful solution to the tension in the state, a reason he named Bawa and Ogor
to beef up the intervention committee.
“My ruling is that the committee must conclude
this work and get back to the House by Tuesday next week”, Ihedioha
declared.
-Culled from The Punch
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