It was drama on the floor of the Rivers State House of Assembly yesterday as supporters of two rival political leaders in the state, Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi and minister of state for education, Mr. Nyesom Wike, battled for supremacy. Arguments started when Leader of the House, Hon Chidi Lloyd, presented a motion signed by 26 lawmakers, urging the House to pass a vote of confidence on Governor Amaechi.
Opening the debate, Hon Michael Okechukwu Chinda (Obio/Akpor II) opposed the motion, querying whether what the governor was doing in the state was not part of his political duties as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution.
Chinda, who is one of the supporters of Wike, insisted that the governor owed the people of Rivers State the duty to protect their land, lives and property.
He said, “This motion ought not to come to this hallowed chambers because the governor has only performed his duties.”
The lawmaker attributed the delay on the East West Road to other competing federal projects, arguing that the House should rather pass a motion compelling the federal government to allocate more funds to the project, than passing a vote of confidence on the governor.
This argument, LEADERSHIP observed, did not go down well with the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Otelemaba Dan Amachree, who refused to allow other opponents to the motion to speak.
Several moves by Hon Chike Michael Amaewhule to speak was futile, even after he called the House to Order 38, Rule 1.
Attempts by Amachree to quell the lawmaker, who had already perceived that he would not be allowed to speak, were unsuccessful as Amaewhule insisted that both sides of arguments must be heard. The Speaker then called out for the Sergeant-at-Arms to come and arrest Amaewhule, who later calmed down.
The motion, which extolled the governor on his resolve to bring good governance to the people of Rivers State, urged Rivers people to condemn the recent attacks on his person and office.
The motion was finally passed after 23 lawmakers voted in its favour while three voted against it.
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