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Not willing to back down, leaders and elders of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Rivers state and strong political allies of the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike on Sunday dared the State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara over his planned decision to demolish the House of Assembly Quarters located at Port Harcourt/Aba road.
The APC elders and leaders comprising of past and present members of the National Assembly, local government chairmen and opinion leaders urged the Governor to jettison the idea of bringing down the facility in whatever guise to safeguard democratic institution in the state.
The plea was sequel to the unscheduled visit of Governor Fubara to the Quarters last week to have on the spot assessment of the condition of the building which he Alleged has been leaking for sometime and therefore deserved to be demolished and reconstructed.
The factional Speaker of the House, Martins Amaewhule whose members have been using the Quarters for their siting told the visitors that there was a grand plot by the governor to bring down the structures the same way he ordered the demolition of the House of Assembly Complex located along the Moscow Road to stop them from sitting.
Amaewhule said the structures were in excellent condition, fully functional and were currently occupied by the lawmakers and their family members.
He condemned the way and manner the governor stormed the quarters aided by thugs and armed policemen alleging that Fubara broke the gate and allowed others to scale the fence.
Amaewhule said the lawmakers never invited the governor to come to the quarters, saying that the estate remained the property of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
“Your visit is unusual visit. It shows that the good people of the state are concerned about what is happening. This facility is the facility of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
“We have also brought in experts, engineers and there is nothing wrong with these structures. They are fully in use and fully functional. All the experts confirmed to us that this building is one of the best in the entire West Africa.
“This complex was constructed by the former Governor, Nyesom Wike and inaugurated in August 2022 by the current chief of staff to Mr. President, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila. We are happy with the building and everything is working well.
“We didn’t write to the governor and we didn’t invite him. We didn’t ask for his help because we don’t need it. We don’t need his intervention in any way. Any attempt to talk about reconstruction or demolition is clearly an assault on democracy and an assault on members resident in these buildings.
Amaewhule while showing the leaders the current legislative chamber at the complex insisted that the governor had no right to make any executive order directing lawmakers where to hold their sitting.
Citing the judgement of Justice Omotosho, Amaewhule described governor’s actions as a flagrant violation of orders of the Federal High Court, none of which he said had been vacated.
The Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Hon Kingsley Chinda, while stating the purpose of their visit said they were worried about reports of another impending demolition of democratic institution and decided to assess the condition of the premises.
Chinda said before their visit, they had already engaged experts to assess the integrity of the structures at the complex and their report showed that they would last for more than 25 years.
He observed that the Assembly built by Wike about two years ago and inaugurated by a former Speaker of the House of Representatives remained the best in Africa and was better than the National legislative quarters.
“Let me salute the speaker and members of the House. The assembly complex that was brought down some leaders of the state went to USA to get that design”.
