The constituents of the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Hon. Martins Amaewhule, have commenced recall proceedings against him following his role in the political crisis rocking the state.
Voters in Obio/Akpor Constituency, through a lawyer, Kenneth Amadi, have written to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to commence recall proceedings against the Speaker over loss of confidence in his capacity to represent them.
Amaewhule, then factional speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, became the speaker after the Supreme Court ruled that the pro-Fubara faction led by Hon. Victor Oko-Jumbo.
Oko-Jumbo’s faction had declared the seat of Amaewhule and that of 26 other pro-Wike lawmakers vacant over their defection from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to the All Progressives Congress, APC.
Since the Supreme Court ruling, things have deteriorated in the Rivers Assembly between the lawmakers and the Governor, who has been threatened with an impeachment over budget presentation and the appointment of commissioners.
However, Amaewhule and the 26 others later renounced their defection and the Supreme Court, in a judgment on 28th February 2025, ordered that they should resume sitting immediately.
Some voters from Obio/Akpor, the Constituency of Amaewhule, in a letter dated 7th March 2025 and addressed to the Resident Electoral Commissioner, INEC, Rivers State, called for the recall of Amaewhule, the legislator representing Obio/Akpor State Constituency at the Rivers State House of Assembly.
The letter warned that if the requested CTC of the voter register is not made available within seven days, the constituents will take legal action to enforce their legal rights.
Amadi claimed that Amaewhule has serially violated court orders since he was restored as the speaker of the Assembly, noting that it has negatively impacted
the business of lawmaking as the Amaewhule-led Assembly continues to pick fights with those interested in fighting the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission, RSIEC.
Amadi said: “In the days immediately after the Supreme Court of Nigeria judgment of 28th February 2025, Amaewhule has issued several ultimatums against the Chairman of RSIEC and more recently a bench warrant for the arrest of the chairman and commissioners of the RSIEC.
“This is in spite of a valid injunction of a High Court of Rivers State that prevents Amaewhule and the Rivers State House of Assembly from doing anything against the said Chairman of the RSIEC pending the hearing of the ongoing lawsuit that the said chairman of the RSIEC filed against Amaewhule and his 26 lawmakers.”
He noted that the “uncommon and exuberant zeal that Amaewhule and his 26 lawmakers are expending upon the RISEC alone since their resumption after 28th February 2025 raises a lot of suspicion and worry.
“This is because it appears that the entire business of lawmaking of the Rivers State House of Assembly has come to a standstill, there is no mention of any other activities such as bills that undergo first or second reading, there is no mention of constituency projects or visits to constituencies, and certainly no mention of oversight functions.
“The only activity that we hear and read about as the function of the Rivers State House of Assembly is ultimatums and bench warrant for the arrest of the Chairman and Commissioners of the RISEC.”
