Okoi Obono-Obla, an All Progressives Congress, APC, stalwart and former presidential aide, has declared that the acting chairman of the party in Rivers State, Tony Okocha, lacks the powers to ask the 27 APC lawmakers in the state House of Assembly to impeach the sitting governor, Sim Fubara.
Okoi Obono-Obla, a former personal assistant to ex-President Muhammadu Buhari on prosecution, however, cautioned Gov Fubara that it was very important for him to watch his back.
“Governor Fubara should better watch his back. As it stands, he lacks the number in the House of Assembly to ward off any potential legislative onslaught on him.
“He should, therefore, adopt a reconciliation approach rather than play to the political gallery, which may lead him to his political demise.”
In a statement issued in Calabar, the lawyer and activist said, “It doesn’t lie in the mouth of Tony Okocha to tell the legislators when or not they should impeach Governor Fubara. Okocha is not a member of the Rivers State House of Assembly and therefore has no role whatsoever to play in the impeachment of the governor. The impeachment of a governor is strictly a legislative matter for only the members of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
“Therefore, the vall is a political blustery and brinkmanship that is always the forte of politicians.”
On the election of a new Speaker of the State Assembly by five PDP lawmakers loyal to the governor, Obono-Obla said he seriously thinks it is unconstitutional for a House of Assembly made up of 31 members to sit down and elect a speaker.
“The purported election by five members of a Speaker in a 31-member House of Assembly is a joke carried too far. By Section 96, Subsection 1 of the Constitution, the quorum of a House of Assembly shall be one-third of all the members of the House.
“The Rivers State House of Assembly has 31 members .
Mathematically, 1/3 of 31 is 10.33.
“Therefore, constitutionally, only about 10 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly can muster the constitutional quorum to elect a speaker.”
According to Obono-Obla, “The crisis in Rivers State is driven by personal egos, empty pride, ego tripping, lawlessness, infantilism, grand frivolity, and institutionalization of the culture of impunity, of which Rivers State has become a hotbed and bastion.”
Obono-Obla expressed unhappiness over the crop of leaders in Rivers State who tend to antagonise and destabilise.
He said, “It is unfortunate and a sad commentary for the ordinary people of Rivers State to be saddled with leaders who spend all their time fighting instead of focusing squarely on the serious business of governance.”
