Rivers State House of Assembly has voted to override Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s veto, pushing through four controversial new bills into law.
The pivotal decision was made during a plenary session at the Assembly Quarters, with Speaker Martin Amaewhule reading four letters from the governor expressing his refusal to assent to the bills.
Relying on Section 100 subsection 5, the House asserted that the governor’s assent is unnecessary for the bills to become law.
The section stipulates, “where the Governor withholds assent and the bill is again passed by two-thirds majority, the bill shall become a law, and the assent of the Governor shall not be required.”
During the session, Speaker Amaewhule accused the governor of lacking intentions to conduct local government elections in the state. He remarked, “by the reasons given by the Governor, it means he doesn’t plan to conduct local government elections in the state.”
Emphasising further, he stated, “the key thing here is that this law removes the power of the Governor to appoint Caretaker Committee Chairmen for the Local Governments. The Governor is not happy that we’re removing his powers to appoint caretaker chairmen,” he added.
The laws include Rivers State Funds Management and Financial Autonomy Law 2023, Rivers State Local Government Amendment Law 2023, Rivers State Advertisement and Use of State-Owned Property Prohibition Repeal Law 2024, and Traditional Rulers Amendment Law 2024.