Making this known during plenary today, Amaewhule pointed out that Ehie did not properly write to inform the house of his new office, and as such his seat has been declared vacant.

Regarding Victor Oko-Jumbo and the two others, the House held three separate votes to declare their seats vacant for absenteeism from sitting for one hundred and fifty two days consecutively without notification or permission, in violation of the 1999 constitution.

The Assembly further agreed to write to INEC to conduct elections to replace the now vacant seats within ninety days to provide representation for their people.

Also, the house agreed to give Governor Fubara another opportunity to present the 2024 Appropriations Bill following the nullification by the Appeal Court of the eight hundred billion naira bill, which he had presented to a parallel House led by Ehie.

Meanwhile; The Victor Oko-Jumbo led Rivers State House of Assembly has rejected the attempt by Martin Amaewhule and 24 others to declare his seat and others vacant, calling it an exercise in futility and a joke taken too far.

The move came after Amaewhule’s faction passed a resolution to declare Oko-Jumbo’s seat and three others vacant due to their absence from legislative sittings, citing relevant sections of the law to back their declaration.

However, Oko-Jumbo in a reaction in a personally signed statement, reiterated that Amaewhule and his colleagues had defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in December 2023.

He argued that Amaewhule’s defection was widely reported, and he even deposed to an affidavit in Suit No.FHC/ABJ/CS/1681/2023, stating that the division within the PDP forced him and others to join the APC.

He asserted that as the current Speaker, he emphasized that Amaewhule and his colleagues have no powers to declare seats vacant, having ceased to be members of the Assembly since December 11, 2023.

Oko-Jumbo, however, urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct bye-elections to fill the vacant seats declared on December 13, 2023.