Rivers crisis: Anti-Amaechi lawmakers shun panel of inquiry

Rivers State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi

The five lawmakers in the Rivers State House of Assembly, who are opposed to Governor Rotimi Amaechi, on Monday, boycotted the sitting of the Commission of Inquiry probing the crisis in the state.

The panel was established by the state government to look into the cause of the fracas that occurred in the chambers of the State House of Assembly.

During the panel’s sitting, counsel for the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Mr. Ken Asuwete, and others, representing the other 25 members of the state legislature, appealed to the panel to grant them a 24-hour extension for them to prepare their documents.

Chairman of the Commission, Justice Biobele Georgewill, adjourned sitting to Thursday, after granting the counsel 48 hours to put their documents in order.

Justice Georgewill appealed to parties involved in the crisis to submit their memos to the commission and maintained that the panel was only on a fact-finding mission.

He said, “No kobo needs to be paid to file your memo. Just do it with the secretary of the commission. Even if you don’t have a lawyer, the commission has a lawyer for you.

“This commission is for everybody affected by the crisis and anybody, who has one thing or the other to tell us. It is a fact-finding commission. We are not here to imprison anybody.”

One of the five anti-Amaechi lawmakers, Mr. Victor Ihunwo, has however filed a suit in court to stop the commission from carrying out its mission.

Ihunwo, who represents Port Harcourt Constituency III in the House of Assembly, on Monday, approached a Rivers State High Court, asking for an order to restrain the panel from investigating the crisis in the state Assembly.

The lawmaker argued that Amaechi was a party in the crisis the panel had been commissioned to investigate.

The lawmaker in his papers said, “That His Excellency, Rotimi Amaechi, the 10th respondent and his government represented by the 11th respondent, instigated the crisis and supervised the execution of said crisis, which he now purports to inquire into by the instrumentality of a Commission of Inquiry selected, appointed and inaugurated by him, that is, the so-called judicial commission of inquiry comprised the 1st set of respondents.

“An order of injunction restraining the 2nd set of respondents from receiving any report from the 1st set of respondents, or in any manner whatsoever implementing or putting into use any report, findings or opinion tendered by or submitted by the 1st set of respondents in their capacity as a Judicial Commission of inquiry or under any guise whatsoever.”

The presiding judge, Justice Iyayi Lamikanra,  fixed Friday for ruling on the matter.