The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Aminu Tambuwal, has assured a faction of the Rivers State House of Assembly members that the National Assembly would ensure that adequate security was provided for them to sit in Port Harcourt.
Following the crisis that erupted in the State assembly, the House of Representatives had on July 10, a day after the fracas in the Rivers State assembly, hurriedly passed a resolution to take over the functions of the state legislature.
The Speaker Tambuwal Thursday promised to liaise with the President of the Senate, David Mark, to ensure that the police provided security for the lawmakers, majority who are in support of the Rivers State Governor. A Federal High Court in Abuja stopped the National Assembly from taking over the functions of Rivers State House of Assembly.
Governor Amaechi now a member of the All Progressives Congress and Close friend to Speaker Tambuwal of the PDP who also might be defecting to the APC summoned the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Abubakar Mohammed, for a meeting on the matter.
The crisis in the Rivers assembly started when five members of the state House of Assembly opposed to the Governor, attempted to remove the Speaker, Hon. Otelemaba Amachree, to pave the way for the eventual removal of the governor.
But Amaechi had hurriedly contacted the Speaker whose timely intervention saved the day with the suspension of the assembly in less than 24 hours after the free for all.
Twenty seven lawmakers in the 32-member legislature are in Amaechi’s camp and Speaker Tambuwal spoke in Abuja as he received the faction of the 25 Assembly members in support of Ameachi in his office.
The members visited Speaker Tambuwal, to thank him for the mediation role of the House in the crisis and to seek his support to appeal to the IG and the state police command to protect the lawmakers.
The Senate had also approved the take over of Rivers assembly enabling the National Assembly to assume all the functions of the state legislature.
The political logjam between President Goodluck Jonathan, the Rivers state Governor Chibuike Amaechi and Speaker Tambuwal started when the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority grounded a plane carrying the governor of Rivers state and Speaker Tambuwal in Ondo State.
But the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), in a response, said the plane was not grounded but delayed.
Amaechi, Tambuwal and the others were returning from Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State where they attended the funeral of the deputy governor, Mrs. Olufunmilayo Olayinka, on Friday, when the incident happened.
