National Assembly Members and Leaders across political party lines have called on Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, to suspend any plan to pull down structures at the House of Assembly Quarters located along Aba Road in Port Harcourt.
The call was made when the past, and present members of the National Assembly, Local Government Chairmen, and Opinion Leaders paid a visit to the Quarters to assess the condition of the buildings.
Their action followed the recent visit of the Governor to the facility and plan to renovate the Estate, which currently houses the Hallowed Chamber of the House of Assembly.
The Speaker, Honourable Martins Amaewhule told the Leaders that there was a plan by the Governor to bring down the structures noting that the structures were in excellent condition, fully functional, and were currently occupied by the lawmakers and their family members.
Hon. Amaewhule while showing the leaders the current legislative Chamber at the complex insisted that the governor had no right to make any executive order directing lawmakers where to hold their sitting.
Citing the judgement of Omotosho, he described the Governor’s action as a violation of the order of the Federal High Court, none of which he said had been vacated.
The Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Hon. Kingsley Chinda, while stating the purpose of their visit said they were worried about reports of another impending demolition of a democratic institution and decided to assess the condition of the premises.
Hon. Chinda said before their visit, they had already engaged experts to assess the integrity of the structures at the complex and their report showed that they would last for more than 25 years.
He said the National Assembly was observing and monitoring the situation in rivers and would soon decide on the collective interest of the State.
