7 months ago
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The spokesperson of opposition lawmakers in the House of Representatives, Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere has accused members of Rivers State House of Assembly of trying to plunge the state into a major crisis by their actions.
Ugochinyere stated it was unconstitutional for the lawmakers to override the supposed veto of the state governor on a law that was never sent to him.
He insisted that such a move was against the interest of the people of the state.
The legislator shared his concerns via a statement in Abuja.
He argued that the purported amendment of sections of the local government laws of 2018 extending the tenure of elected local government chairmen in Rivers state by the House of Assembly was dead on arrival and cannot be implemented.
Ugochinyere lamented that the override of the governor’s veto by the House of Assembly just a few days after purportedly amending the same law was a recipe for chaos and breakdown of law and order in the state
He further said: “Assuming without conceding that the Rivers House of Assembly sent the law to the Governor, the Governor has 30 days within which to assent to the law or withhold his assent and it can only be at the expiration of the 30 days that the House of Assembly can adjudge that the Governor has withheld assent and not earlier.”
While describing the move as legislative rascality and a coup against democracy that is dead on arrival, saying “Illegally extending the tenure of Local Government Chairmen just a few weeks to the expiration of their tenure is an abuse of legislative process that cannot be enforced. It is the height of legislative rascality and a coup against democracy that is dead on arrival”.
