A human rights lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) has faulted Governor Simi Fubara of Rivers State for directing members of the state assembly to meet at the Government House, stating that the legislature is independent of the executive.
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.
Falana spoke on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, explaining that since both arms of government are independent, Fubara cannot change the sitting venue of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
In his words, “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.”
In an official Gazette, Executive Order of the Rivers State Government 001-2023, Fubara cited the unsafe state of the House of Assembly complex.
“NOW THEREFORE, I SIR SIMINALAYI FUBARA GSSRS, the Governor of Rivers State this 30th day of October 2023, Pursuant to the powers vested in me under the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) hereby ISSUE, ORDER, AND DIRECT that all proceedings and business of Rivers State House of Assembly shall temporarily take place at the Auditorium, Admin Block, Government House, Port Harcourt until the repairs, renovation or reconstruction of the chambers of the Rivers State House of Assembly are completed,” part of the gazette read.
Meanwhile Falana insisted that Fubara was wrong to move the sitting venue of the Rivers State House of Assembly, and referenced an impeachment of a governor done outside the premises of the House of Assembly which was nullified by the Supreme Court.
According to him, if there is a need for a sitting elsewhere, the members of the House of Assembly, properly constituted, will have to decide where to carry out their meeting.
