*Pro-Fubara lawmakers impeach Speaker, Deputy, sack CJ
*Clark calls on Tinubu to intervene and caution Wike over the crisis
The embattled governor of Rivers State, Similanyi Fubara, has accused security agencies of compromise while addressing some of his supporters on the crisis rocking the state.
Fubara made this known on Monday morning after Edie Edison was removed as Majority Leader of the Rivers House of Assembly.
He said, “From what I have seen the security agency is even compromised. They were shooting at me directly but it doesn’t matter, somebody will die one day.
“When people here ask who is this Fubara? He is that man that was killed for his struggle. I am not against anybody. I’m not planning anything against anybody that I don’t know where these things are coming from.
“Let it be put on record that whoever masterminded this is trying to shift… I heard some people gathered to do whatever. That is purely rubbish. You can’t sit when there is problem and say you are doing anything. What are you doing? I’m the chief security officer. I’m the head of the government… whatever action that is taken here is null and void. For our good people, I know you are prayerful. You have been praying for me. God will see us to the end.”
It was reported that there were gunshots and the firing of teargas within the Rivers State House of Assembly Complex on Monday as some lawmakers sat to begin an impeachment process on Fubara.
I have done nothing to warrant impeachment by the state House of Assembly, Fubara said.
Meanwhile, eight members of the Rivers House of Assembly, loyal to Governor Siminalayi Fubara, have impeached the Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Martins Amaewhule, and his deputy, Dumle Maol.
They also announced the purported suspension of the Chief Judge of the State, Hon. Justice Samuel Chibuzor Amadi, and directed the governor to appoint an Acting Chief Judge for the state.
The lawmakers, who sat in one of the buildings at the Government House, Port Harcourt, elected the impeached Leader of the House, Hon. Edison Ehie, as the new Speaker.
Meanwhile, Governor Fubara has congratulated Hon. Ehie, who was deputy speaker of the 9th House of Assembly, on his emergence as the new Speaker of the House.
Also, the chairman of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) in Rivers State, Chijioke Ihunwo, has congratulated Ehie on his emergence as speaker of the State House of Assembly.
Ihunwo, in a statement issued in Port Harcourt on Monday afternoon, expressed the hope that the new Speaker will further improve relationship between the legislature and the executive, and provide more opportunities for the growth of Rivers youths.
Also, Elder statesman and Ijaw leader, Edwin Clark, has urged President Bola Tinubu to intervene in the current political crisis in Rivers State.
Clark’s appeal specifically targets the Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, urging Tinubu to advise and caution him.
He made the call in response to the impeachment notice served the state governor, Siminalaye Fubura, by members of the state House of Assembly.
Speaking at a press briefing on Monday, Clark said the President should caution Wike and the security agencies in order to avert any untold crisis in the state.
“I have been greatly disturbed by the reported developments in Rivers State in the last 24 hours. I have been reliably informed that there is a plot to unlawfully remove the Governor of Rivers State, Siminalaye Fubara, who has spent only about five months in office,” he said.
Clark claimed that the current crisis is aimed at removing the governor, force his deputy, Prof Ngozi Odu, to resign, and install the Speaker of the House of Assembly.
“Let me warn strongly, we won’t allow that to happen,” he vowed.
He continued, “Last night, the hallowed chamber of the Rivers State House of Assembly was burnt, in what apparently is part of the plot to destabilise the state.
“The governor was tear-gassed and was even threatened with being shot at when he visited the Assembly Complex after the incident, to assess the level of damage.
“We are not in a barbaric state where people can do whatever they like; we are in a democracy and the tenets of constitutional democracy must be upheld by all.
“Rivers people have suffered enough political crises, the state should not be allowed to degenerate again into its dark past, and the Niger Delta Region by extension. The consequences would be dire for the stability of the region and the national economy.”
Clark emphasised that urgent action must be taken by Tinubu to prevent the escalating crisis in the state.
