Guardian National Assembly takes over Rivers legislature THURSDAY, 25 JULY 2013 22:44 FROM MOHAMMED ABUBAKAR AND AZIMAZI MOMOH JIMOH, ABUJA NEWS - NATIONAL . Senate seeks redeployment of Mbu . Political tension over 2015, says Jonathan . Rift threatens democracy, says ACN . NBA urges president’s intervention WITH a unanimous adoption of all recommendations of its committee that investigated the crisis in Rivers House of Assembly, the Senate Thursday resolved to take over the responsibilities of the state legislature. The House of Representatives had already passed a motion for the take-over of the state legislature by the National Assembly. With the concurrence of the Senate, the National Assembly has fully assumed the responsibilities of legislating for Rivers State as provided for in Section 11 of the nation’s constitution. The upper chamber equally approved the recommendation that the state Police Commissioner, Joseph Mbu, be immediately redeployed. The Senate directed its President, David Mark, to mediate between the two parties in the crisis with a view to restoring peace to the House of Assembly. After the unanimous passage of the three prayers, Mark made it clear that the only objective of the Senate in wading into the Rivers Assembly crisis was to ensure a return to peace and order. “Our appeal is that unless there is peace in Rivers State, there would be no development. We appeal that all those involved in the crisis should sheathe their swords and allow peace to reign,” he said. Mark pledged that in as much as the Senate wanted to be an integral part of the process of restoring peace to Rivers State, it would remain very neutral. He said the National Assembly would uphold and defend the constitution to any length, adding that impunity from anybody would not be tolerated. He warned against the attempt of the minority group of lawmakers to impeach the Speaker of Rivers House of Assembly, pointing out that if such an intention existed in the mind of anybody, it should be buried. On a different occasion, President Goodluck Jonathan admitted the existence of tension in the polity, attributing it to the race for the 2015 general elections. “The political tension in the country is mainly built around the 2015 elections which should not be the case. It is quite disturbing. The year 2015 is still far off. I expect politicians to focus on the business of governance now. We must do what we were elected to do first. We will do our best to curb the overheating of the polity,” he said. The President also said that he had asked for a detailed briefing on the security situation in Rivers State and assured a delegation of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) that visited him that all necessary action would be taken to ensure adherence to the rule of law in the state. Addressing other issues raised by the delegation, Jonathan said that his administration was implementing the right policies, programmes and projects to accelerate economic development and boost employment in the country. He called for a little more patience from Nigerians, saying that the results of his administration’s efforts in areas such as electricity supply would become clearer in due course. Jonathan also assured the NBA that his administration would do all that it could towards the positive reformation and strengthening of Nigeria’s judicial system, including the resolution of issues related to increased funding for the judiciary. He accepted the NBA’s invitation to open the association’s Yearly General Conference at Tinapa, Cross River State, next month, promising to personally honour the invitation, in keeping with the new found spirit of co-operation and interaction. Earlier, the NBA has called for the direct intervention of Jonathan in the Rivers’ crisis. The NBA President, Okey Wali (SAN), said the Rivers crisis had become an albatross to the political development of the country. . On his team were three former presidents, O.C.J. Okocha, Thompson Okpoko as well Chief Priscilla Kuye, while Mr. Ibrahim Eddy Mark was the only former national scribe on the delegation. Petroleum Resources Minister, Deziani Alison-Madueke, was also on hand to brief the meeting which held behind closed-doors. Reacting to some statements credited to Rivers State Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi yesterday, the state chapter of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) said that the governor should be investigated. The party was reacting to uncomplimentary remarks Amaechi allegedly made about Jonathan while fielding questions from a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) correspondent in London. In a statement by Jerry Needam, Special Adviser on Media to the state Chairman of PDP, Felix Obuah, he condemned Amaechi’s efforts at deriding the President, pointing out that it was in a similar manner that he (Amaechi) ignited the crisis in the state. Meanwhile, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has accused the Presidency of being too clever by half with its claim that the Rivers crisis is not a threat to Nigeria’s democracy. According to the ACN, the crisis is not just a threat to the nation’s democracy but also to the peaceful co-existence of its people. In a statement issued in Lagos yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, the party said the Rivers’ crisis looked ‘normal’ to the Presidency because it was the one behind it. ‘’Let us call a spade a spade: What is happening in Rivers State is not normal. What is normal in five members of a 32-strong House seeking to remove the Speaker supported by the remaining members? What is normal in the police commissioner of a state labelling the state’s governor a dictator and supporting renegade lawmakers to stir trouble? What is normal in hired thugs stoning visiting governors from another part of the country? ‘’Should it not be clear to the Presidency what would have happened if any of the four northern governors had been mortally injured in the attack on them by the hired thugs in Port Harcourt? In any case, is it not common knowledge that most of Nigeria’s political crises have originated from a state or regional crisis?’’ it queried.
Posted on: Fri, 26 Jul 2013 08:00:47 +0000
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