"Court ruling on Rivers House of Assembly: APC vows to resist any
unconstitutional action" - by: Lai Mohammed
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has strongly warned against any
reliance on Wednesday's judgement of a federal high court,
nullifying the takeover by the National Assembly of the functions of
the Rivers House of Assembly, to perpetrate any mayhem or
unconstitutional acts in Rivers State.
In a statement issued in Osogbo on Thursday by its Interim National
Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party also warned the
police and other security agencies not to provide cover for
renegades to engage in any illegality, saying their role must be to
ensure the safety and security of all legislators if and when the
house decides to sit.
It said there is no doubt that the six legislators opposed to Gov.
Chibuike Amaechi will try to hide under the cover of the judgement
to convene the Assembly with the sole purpose of removing the
Speaker as a prelude to impeaching the State Governor, but warned
that any such act will constitute an illegality and trigger a
cataclysmic reaction, the end result of which no one can predict.
''The six legislators opposed to Gov. Amaechi do not and cannot form
a quorum (9 members) that will even allow the House to convene
legally, not to talk of at least 20 members - representing two third
majority - that can constitutionally impeach the Speaker. In a house
of 32 members, there is no way six members can be more than 26, even
under the warped arithmetic which the Jonathan Administration has
been conjuring in recent times to back the losing faction of the
Nigerian Governors' Forum.
''However, we are aware that the renegade legislators, with the
clear backing of President Goodluck Jonathan, have nothing but
disdain for constitutionality and the rule of law, hence will have
no qualms about carrying out any act of impunity.
''We are therefore constrained to warn, in the strongest possible
terms, that we in the APC will take any impunity in Rivers as an
impunity to all, and will vehemently resist such with a spontaneous
explosion of people power not only in states under our control but
across the country,'' APC said.
Urging the police not to allow themselves to be used to perpetrate
violence and chaos, the party said already, the Police Commissioner
in Rivers has ordered that all roads leading to the House of
Assembly complex in Port Harcourt be barricaded, perhaps as a
prelude to escorting the renegade members to convene to illegally
remove the Speaker.
To President Jonathan, APC said he must not allow personal and
partisan considerations to blot out his responsibility as the father
of the nation and put in jeopardy his constitutional role of
ensuring the country's unity.
''We are aware of the letter to President Jonathan by former
President Olusegun Obasanjo virtually accusing the President of
destroying the same nation he was elected to preside over and
uplift. We hope he will not allow Obasanjo's prognosis about him to
come true so soon by backing any move that can plunge Nigeria into
chaos.
''This is because we in the APC have resolved never to sit by and
allow anyone, no matter how highly placed, to engage in actions that
will make our country a laughing stock and a pariah in the comity of
nations. Therefore, there will be no peace anywhere in the country
if this Federal Government supports the perpetration of impunity in
Rivers. This is not a threat, but the sure consequences of any acts
of impunity,'' it said
The party called on all people of goodwill, especially past leaders,
to prevail on President Jonathan to back off the renegade MPs who
are hell bent on causing mayhem in Rivers.
Meanwhile, the party has described Wednesday's court ruling as
bizarre and alarming, against the background of the massive mayhem
that was unleashed in the Rivers House of Assembly last July.
It wondered why the court will say there were no facts that the
House of Assembly could not carry out its functions, with the Mace
as well as several heads broken and the hallowed chambers desecrated
by a free-for-all that was watched all around the world.
''What else must occur before the stipulated conditions can prevail
for the National Assembly to take over the functions of the Rivers
House of Assembly? Is it when MPs are slaughtered like rams that
such a condition will be deemed to have prevailed?
''We are astonished and concerned by this court ruling, especially
coming shortly after we warned the judiciary not to allow itself to
be used by unscrupulous people to reverse the gains that have been
recorded under the present Chief Justice of Nigeria, who has
embarked on determined and sincere efforts to clean up the
judiciary,'' APC said.
Alhaji Lai Mohammed
Interim National Publicity Secretary
All Progressives Congress (APC)
Osogbo, Dec. 12th 2013
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