The Rivers State House of Assembly has denied receiving any request from Governor Siminialayi Fubara to present the 2025 Appropriation Bill, despite his public claim that such a letter was sent.
Chairman of the House Committee on Information, Dr Enemi Alabo George, said on Sunday, March 16, that the Assembly had not received any formal communication from the governor regarding the budget presentation and challenged him to provide evidence of an acknowledged copy.
“Last week, we were told that on his way to Ogoni for a programme, the governor made a stopover at the gate of the House of Assembly Quarters to grant an interview to the press.
“In that interview, he claimed that he had sent a letter to the House of Assembly indicating his intention to visit and present the appropriation bill, a claim we found rather astonishing as no such letter was received by the House of Assembly.
“His aides later alleged that they forwarded a letter through WhatsApp to some members of the House, which was also awkward, unprofessional and embarrassing.
“As I speak, the social media space is awash with stories about a purported letter from the Governor to the House of Assembly expressing his intention to visit the House to present the appropriation bill for the year 2025.
“Nothing can be farther from the truth. We want to state categorically that there is no such letter before the House of Assembly nor any of its staff. We challenge the Governor and his aides to produce an acknowledgement copy of such a letter or any evidence that such a letter was sent or received by the House of Assembly. It is absolutely untrue and unfortunate. The general public must as a matter of importance ignore such claim,” he stated.
George accused Fubara of using the claim to mislead the public and paint the lawmakers as uncooperative.
“It is now very obvious that if at all there was such a letter, the intended recipient was not the legislature, but the public, and the clear intention was to play to the gallery, whip up public sentiment, demonise the House of Assembly and set the public against us. This is demeaning, denigrating and perilously unfortunate,” he said.
The lawmaker further alleged that all efforts by the Assembly to engage the governor after the Supreme Court ruling were frustrated, particularly regarding the presentation of the budget. “This House wrote to the Governor, calling on him to immediately present the budget for speedy consideration.
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“This letter was rejected and the staff of the House of Assembly who attempted to deliver the mails were brutalised at the gate of the Government House and sent back. Undeterred by this, the House resorted to using a courier service to deliver the mail. The Governor did not heed our call, nor did he demonstrate any intention to,” he said.
George also accused the governor of blocking all official communication with the Assembly. “The Governor went further to instruct all ministries, agencies and departments of government not to receive any correspondence from the Rivers State House of Assembly nor communicate with us in any manner,” he claimed.
He warned that the legislature is an independent arm of government and should not be treated as an extension of the executive.
“We are an independent arm of government in line with the principles of horizontal separation of powers as expressed in Section 4, Section 5, and Section 6 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended,” he said.
George said the Assembly had suffered greatly in the ongoing crisis but remained committed to ensuring governance in the state was not crippled.
“This Assembly has borne the brunt of this crisis. We have endured immense hardship. We have been battered almost beyond our carrying capacity. We have been punished unduly and unfairly for trying to perform our constitutional duties.
“We have seen hell. Our hallowed chamber was burnt down by the governor. The House of Assembly Complex was brought down by the Governor, totally demolished alongside our personal effect and belongings.
“Our Speaker’s residence was brutally attacked. Our residential quarters was brutally invaded by the governor. Our allowances have been seized for about a year and six months.
“We have our aged pensioners who must receive their pensions. We have our teachers in public schools who we depend on for our children to be educated, they must be paid their salaries. We have government hospitals and health centres which our people depend on for discounted and affordable medical services.
“The governor is toying with the lives and livelihoods of Rivers people. Let us please all call on him to do the right thing in the interest of our dear state and its people,” he said.