Some stakeholders in Rivers State have decried the continued suspension of three members of the State House of Assembly, who are loyal to Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
The three lawmakers, Hon. Victor Oko-Jumbo of Bonny State Constituency, Hon. Sokari Goodboy of Ahoada-West State Constituency and Hon. Adolphus Orobenibia of Opobo/Nkoro State Constituency were suspended by the House in the heat of his political crisis in the state in 2024.
Speaking on a radio programme monitored in Port Harcourt, former factional chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, Hon. Robinson Ewor, has said Fubara should be held responsible if the three suspended lawmakers were not recalled to the State House of Assembly.
Ewor stated governor had a responsibility to ensure their return to the House, adding that Fubara should still be blamed even if the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Chief Nyesom Wike, rejects their return.
He also accused Fubara of being responsible for the delay in the passage of the 2026 Appropriation Bill of the state.
Also speaking on a radio programme monitored in Port Harcourt, a civil right advocate, Opunabo Inko-Tariah, stated that constituents of the suspended lawmakers need constituency projects as other lawmakers continue to pursue constituency projects.
Inko-Tariah, who is Wike’s former press secretary, further stated that the reconciliation process of the Rainbow Coalition should not only focus on the governor, pointing out that the suspended lawmakers deserve the same level of attention like other issues being considered in the peace process.
He questioned why the suspended lawmakers were not given priority in the reconciliation process led by the Senator Magnus Abe-led Rainbow Coalition.
The civil right advocate said any genuine effort to restore peace and stability in the state must also address the situation of the three lawmakers, adding that the issue goes beyond whether the lawmakers will return to the Assembly.
On his part, a youth leader in the state,
Fubara Enoch Stephen asked that Abe-led committee to facilitate the return of the three suspended lawmakers into the House.
“It is a welcomed development the ongoing reconciliation which took place among political leaders of Rivers State. I am using this medium to appeal that the process should be comprehensive.
“Hence, the Rivers State House of Assembly should, for the sake of the people also reconcile and reintegrate the suspended members of the House; Opobo/Nkoro, Bonny and Ahoada-West state constituencies so that their constituents should also be represented and benefit from dividends of democracy,” Stephen said.
The youth leader stated that the continued exclusion of the lawmakers means that their constituents in Bonny, Ahoada-West and Opobo/Nkoro remain without representation.
“There is no better time than now. Let the peace be total and comprehensive. The Assembly is the citadel of democracy where the interest of the people are represented. But so far, those three constituencies are deprived of representation. Peace, indeed is priceless,” he said.
