The Hon. Martin Amaewhule-led faction of the Rivers State House of Assembly on Tuesday declared the seats of 4 members of the House vacant for breaching the provision of the 1999 constitution on abstention from plenary.
The affected members are Edison Ehie, currently Chief of Staff Government House; Victor Oko-Jumbo, current factional speaker of the Assembly; Adolphus Timothy Oruibienimigha; and Sokari Goodboy Sokari, representing Ahoada East II, Bonny, Opobo/Nkoro, and Ahoada West Constituency, respectively.
Ehie served briefly as factional speaker of the Rivers Assembly and was the one who declared the seats of Amaewhule and his group of 26 other members vacant after they announced their now controversial defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
He later resigned his membership in the assembly to serve Governor Siminalayi Fubara as Chief of Staff.
But announcing the assembly’s action during plenary on Tuesday, Amaewhule stated that the assembly relied on the combined provisions of Section 109 (1)(e), (f), and Section 109 (2) of the 1999 Constitution as amended.
On the status of Victor Oko-Jumbo and the two others, the House held three separate votes to declare their seats vacant for absenteeism from sitting for 152 days consecutively without notification or permission, in violation of the 1999 constitution.
A press statement by Martins Wachukwu, Special Assistant on Media to Amaewhule, added that the assembly further agreed to write to INEC to conduct elections to replace the vacant seats within 90 days to provide representation for their people.