Governor Siminalayi Fubara's 2024 budget presentation to four of the state House of Assembly's thirty-one members was criticized by the All Progressives Congress (APC).Shortly after the House of Assembly Complex was demolished on Wednesday, Fubara gave the N800 billion 2024 budget to the four MPs he thought to be his loyalists at Government House in Port Harcourt.
However, in a statement made in Port Harcourt, Mr. Tony Okocha, the state APC Caretaker Committee Chairman, said that the action was unconstitutional.
According to Okocha, Section 120(2) of the Constitution expressly prohibits spending money unless the state House of Assembly has appropriated it.
"For all the reasons mentioned, the presentation of a bill to four suspended members of the House of Assembly does not fulfill the requirements of the constitution," he declared.
Okocha issued a warning, stating that the state government's expenditure on the results of the presentation constituted a clear violation of the constitution and, as such, adequate justification for the start of the impeachment process.
He added that a two-thirds majority of the House of Assembly is required to remove a speaker under Section 92(2)C.
According to Okocha, there is no proof that Speaker of the House Martins Amaewhule has been dismissed from office.
"The lawmakers passed a vote of confidence in Amaewhule, who remains the speaker of the House of Assembly," he declared.
Okocha added that the constitution's Section 96(1) makes it quite evident that a third of the House of Assembly's members must be present for there to be a quorum.
Since 11 is obviously one-third of 31 minus the deceased member, four members can never constitute a quorum.
According to Section 99, any member of a state's House of Assembly who votes or sits there knowing or having good reason to believe that he is not allowed to do so is guilty of an offense and faces the punishment specified in a House of Assembly statute upon conviction.
The House of Assembly is able to control its own processes, such as calling meetings and setting aside time for them, thanks to Section 101.
Section 105(3) delineates the governor's responsibility in addition.
"The first session of the Assembly shall be called by proclamation issued by the governor," he declared.
"This is the function the governor has performed," Okocha continued. As a result, the Assembly assumes control of overseeing its protocols, such as House summons and recesses.