Lawmakers loyal to Governor Siminalayi Fubara have elected Hon. Victor Oko Jumbo, as the new Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
Hon. Oko Jumbo on Wednesday took the oath of office as the factional Speaker of the Assembly.
Oko-Jumbo takes over from the former factional Speaker of the House, Hon. Eddison Ehie, who resigned as both Speaker and member of the House on December 31, 2023.
Ehie, who represented Ahoada-East Constituency 2 in the House, was later appointed the Chief of Staff to Governor Fubara.
Jombo is among the four lawmakers loyal to the State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara since the political crisis that rocked the state started.
The location where the election that produced Oko-Jumbo, a staunch supporter of the state governor, was held couldn’t be ascertained as at press time.
A source in the Government House, Port Harcourt, familiar with the development, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, confirmed the development to our correspondent on the telephone.
He stated, “Yes, I can confirm to you that Hon Victor Oko Jumbo has just emerged as the new Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
“His colleagues elected him during their sitting in Port Harcourt this afternoon. That is all I can say for now.”
The emergence of Jumbo is coming hours after the Rivers State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), directed the House of Assembly members led by Hon. Martin Amaewhule to commence impeachment proceedings against Governor Fubara.
Caretaker Committee Chairman of the party, Mr. Tony Okocha, gave the directive on Tuesday, during a media conference at his office, in Port Harcourt.
The directive was formed following the governor’s recent declaration that the Assembly members do not exist anymore in the eyes of the law
Okocha said no section of the constitution empowers the governor to declare the assembly members non existence.
He restated that the government of Siminalayi Fubara is clueless and therefore shouldn’t govern the state.
The APC chairman said, “Everyday we find justification in our assertions that the government of Sir Siminalayi Fubara is the worst thing that has happened in our political landscape, in our political history. We are justified every other second in our assertion that the government is clueless, is directionless and it is ruthless.
“And of course you know that as the main opposition political party in Rivers State, we will never sit down to see him do all those things and go free, neither shall we allow him ride roughshod over us and over the people of Rivers State.
“What the governor can claim he has achieved in 365 days is the issue of squandering Rivers money, one hundred and fifty million per LGA.”
