Feelers emerged on Sunday evening that the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Martins Amaehule and 26 pro-Wike members of the House of Assembly are set to shun the invitation by Governor Siminialayi Fubara.
An invitation letter to a meeting slate for Monday at the Governor’s Office in Port Harcourt, signed by the Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Tammy Danagogo, surfaced on social media at the weekend.
The agenda for the meeting, according to the document obtained by our reporter, included the provision of a befitting space for the House sitting, following the bombing in 2024 of the House of Assembly by unknown persons.
The letter said the remuneration and allowances of the lawmakers, which had been suspended by the governor for nearly one year, would also be discussed, as well as the presentation of the contentious 2025 budget that was passed by four lawmakers local to the governor.
However, a source close to Speaker Amaehule told Naija Daily News that the lawmakers were not favourably disposed to honouring the invitation, which is seen as a step towards reconciliation with the embattled governor.
It would be recalled that Fubara suffered a string of losses at the Supreme Court last week, including his bid to declare vacant the seats of the lawmakers who are loyal to his estranged godfather, Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the FCT.
“The governor has missed the chance for the peace he is now trying to roll. We will determine when and how to meet him in the days ahead, but for now, let us watch and see,” an aide to the speaker told our reporter.
A member of the Rivers State House of Assembly representing Akuku-Toru Constituency II, Lolo Isaiah Opuende, in an online post stated that the 27 pro-Wike legislators would not attend the meeting.
Opuende advised the Fubara to “dey his dey” (keep his distance) from the lawmakers.
“How can you write a letter for the House of Assembly and put it on social media and expect us to come? The governor should write us the proper way”, he said.
