Rivers Crisis: APC Assembly Forum Rejects Membership Of 27 Lawmakers Who Dumped PDP

The All Progressives Congress States Assembly Forum (ASAF) has rejected the membership of the 27 Rivers State House of Assembly members who recently left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to join APC.

According to ASAF, it decided not to admit the Rivers lawmakers into APC immediately due to the ongoing legal challenges against the former PDP members.

ASAF, which represents APC state assembly members, made this declaration after an emergency meeting in Abuja on Tuesday evening, Naija News reports.

Vanguard quoted the ASAF’s Director General, Ambassador Fubara Dagogo, to have expressed appreciation for the lawmakers’ decision to join the APC, but insisted that they will only be recognized in the party after the Court case against them are over next year.

Dagogo stated that the ASAF would be ready to accept the 27 lawmakers and other state defectors, but insisted that it must be done under a credible and transparent situation.

The Director General had previously implored President Bola Tinubu to safeguard the democracy of the nation by intervening in the conflict in Rivers State.

He expressed gratitude for the recent action taken by the President to reinstate harmony in the state.

Speaking further, Dagogo, said that ASAF will deliberate later and probably admit the 27 Rivers lawmakers into its forum when it meets again on February 18, 2024, ahead of its planned Geneva retreat in Switzerland.

The organization, ASAF, also expressed its support and trust in the National chairman of the ruling All the Progressives Congress (APC), former Kano state Governor Abdullah Umar Ganduje, and the National Working Committee, NWC.

ASAF acknowledged that under his leadership, the popularity of the ruling party has grown, resulting in an increase in the number of defectors and new members joining the APC.

There are contradictory reports and denials regarding the purported agreement that was supposedly reached and signed by the different factions in Rivers State.

The aforementioned agreement was reached at the conclusion of the meeting held on Monday, presided over by President Tinubu, between Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike. The purpose of this agreement was to resolve the ongoing dispute that has caused a crisis in Rivers State.

As a result of this crisis, 27 members of the state House of Assembly, led by Speaker Martin Amaewhule, who are said to be loyal to Wike, announced their defection from the PDP to the APC.

In response, the governor’s faction, led by factional Speaker Edison Ehie, declared the seats of the defected lawmakers vacant, citing section 109 (1) of the Nigerian constitution.

The factional Speaker and his group have officially written to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, declaring the seats vacant. However, the 27 lawmakers have already challenged this action in court.