
Rivers State House of Assembly has said the former factional Speaker of Rivers State House of Assembly and Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s loyalist, Hon. Edison was never a Speaker.
Ehie, who was the Majority Leader of the Assembly before declaring himself as the factional Speaker had on December 29, 2023, resigned his position as both the Speaker and member representing Ahaoda East Constituency II in the assembly.
However, the Clerk of the Assembly, Emeka Amadi, in a press statement issued in Port Harcourt on Wednesday, said Ehie was never elected the Speaker of the Assembly and should not have claimed to have resigned from such office.
According to him, the letter by Ehie is “misleading information,” adding that the latter was never at any time in the life of the Rivers Assembly elected a speaker.
The letter read, “The attention of the Rivers State House of Assembly has been drawn to a letter dated 29 December 2023, addressed to the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission and circulating in the media.
“It was purportedly written and signed by Rt. Hon. Edison Ehie, member representing Ahoada East Constituency II in the Rivers State of Assembly wherein he claimed to have resigned from the position of the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, an office he never occupied.
“I am therefore directed to call on the good people of Rivers State to disregard the false claim in this letter that is intended to mislead the unsuspecting public. Rt. Hon. Edison Ehie was never at any time in the life of the Rivers State House of Assembly elected a Speaker.”
The letter read further, “The Office of the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly is a creation of the 1999 Constitution (as altered) and should not be ridiculed by any member who swore to preserve it and abide by the Constitution.
“As a matter of fact, on Monday, the 5° day of June 2023, after the proclamation of the 10° Rivers State House of Assembly by the Governor, and in line with Section 92 (1) of the 1999 Constitution (As altered).
“I, as the then acting Clerk of the House, conducted the election that produced Rt. Hon. Martin Chike Amaewhule, DSSRS, as the Speaker of the 10th Rivers State House of Assembly by the unanimous votes of all other thirty-one (31) members sitting and present.”
“It is also imperative to state that, from the 5* day of June 2023, when he was elected till today,” Amaewhule “has been performing his duties as the Speaker”, the letter further read.
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