Rivers: Any sitting outside Assembly complex not recognised – Falana

Maureen Aguta

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, has said any sitting by the Rivers State House of Assembly outside its complex is not recognised by the law.

The human rights lawyer disclosed this while speaking about the political crisis in Rivers on Channels Television last night.

The state governor, Similanayi Fubara, had on Friday issued an executive order for the immediate and temporary relocation of the sitting of the Rivers State Assembly to the Auditorium, Admin Block of the Government House, Port Harcourt.

In an official Gazette, Executive Order of the Rivers State Government 001-2023, Fubara cited the unsafe state of the House of Assembly complex.

However, Falana said the move by Fubara negated the principle of separation of power, adding the legislature is independent of the executive.

He said, “I would like to assume that the governor issued that executive order before the intervention of the High Court in Rivers State. The House is independent of the executive, so the governor cannot tell the house where to sit.

“This was very clear in the Oyo State case which led to the impeachment of Governor Ladoja whereby under the influence of the late Chief Lamidi Adedibu, the House was alleged to have sat in a hotel and the Supreme Court made that point abundantly clear that an impeachment carried out in a hotel deviates clearly from the Constitution.

“So any sitting of the House outside the premise of the House of Assembly complex will not be known to law; will not be recognised by law.”

Falana said if there was a need for a sitting elsewhere, the members of the House of Assembly, properly constituted, would have to decide where to carry out their meeting.