The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of being desperate to take over Rivers state by force.

The caretaker committee of the APC in Rivers, on Tuesday, asked the Rivers house of assembly to impeach governor Siminalayi Fubara.

Tony Okocha, chairman of APC in the state, gave the directive while addressing a press conference in Port Harcourt, the capital.

Reacting during a media briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, Debo Ologunagba, the PDP spokesperson, asked the APC to perish the thought of a forceful takeover of Rivers.

Ologunagba said APC has been rejected in Rivers, noting that the party is desperate “to use violence, coercion, and bullying to undermine the will of the people and forcefully take over the state”.

“The fact that the Rivers State APC Chairman, in his warped imagination, thinks he can direct impeachment proceedings against a duly elected State Governor not only shows the level of APC’s arrogance and condescension for the people of Rivers State but also further confirms APC’s desperation to forcefully annex their democratic rights under the Constitution,” he said.

“In any event, the individuals that the Rivers State APC Chairman directed to commence impeachment proceedings against Governor Fubara are not legally members of the Rivers State House of Assembly and cannot contemplate or exercise such powers under the law.

“These individuals, by virtue of section 109(1)(g) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), have since vacated and lost their seats, rights, privileges, recognition, and obligations accruable to members of the Rivers State House of Assembly after their defection from the PDP, the political party platform upon which they were elected into the Rivers State House of Assembly.

“For emphasis, section 109 (1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution provides that: “a member of a House of Assembly shall vacate his seat in the House if … (g) being a person whose election to the House of Assembly was sponsored by a political party, he becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that House was elected.”

“It should be noted that Section 109 (1) (g) of the Constitution is self-executory. The import of this provision is that the members of the Rivers State House of Assembly who defected have vacated their seats by reason of that defection.”

He added that the “unlawful” directive by the  APC chairman for the impeachment of the governor is a “brazen call for anarchy”.

Ologunagba said the call amounts to an attempt to forcefully overthrow a democratic order in clear violation of section 1 sub-section 2 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

“The APC must perish the thought of forcefully taking over Rivers State as such is a direct assault on the sensibility of the people which will be resisted firmly,” he said.

On Monday, Fubara expressed dismay over the attitude of the assembly members toward his administration, adding that the lawmakers only exist because of him.

The governor added that he accepted the peace deal offered by President Bola Tinubu because it was a political solution to the rift.

In December, 27 PDP legislators in the Rivers assembly defected to the APC.

The seats of the lawmakers were subsequently declared vacant.

The committee set up to probe the finances of Kaduna under the administration of Nasir el-Rufai, the immediate former governor of the state, has commenced an investigation.

The committee, which is made up of 13 members, was set up by the Kaduna assembly in April.

The panel is tasked with looking at loans, grants, and project implementation from 2015 to 2023, the period when el-Rufai was governor of the state.

Suraj Bamalli, the media aide to Yusuf Liman, speaker of the Kaduna assembly, announced the development in a statement on Tuesday.

“The adhoc committee set up to conduct a comprehensive fact-finding into financial dealings, the status of executed contracts, loans, grants, and project implementation from 2015-2023 has commenced its clarification session,” the statement reads.

“The committee has engaged in detailed discussions with several key present and past government officials, including former Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce, Honorable Manzo Maigari; Former KADPPA Boss and Commissioner of Budget and Planning, Honorable Thomas Gyang, Commissioner and Administrator of Zaria Metropolitan Authority, Hajia Balaraba Aliyu, amongst others.

“The Kaduna State House of Assembly appreciates the cooperation and contributions of all individuals involved in this process and assures the public of their dedication to upholding the highest standards of governance during this process.”

On March 30, Uba Sani, governor of Kaduna, said his administration inherited a debt of $587 million, N85 billion, and 115 contractual liabilities from el-Rufai’s administration.

The Kaduna governor said the huge debt burden is eating deep into the state’s share of the monthly federation allocation.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) caretaker committee in Rivers has requested that the governor, Siminalayi Fubara, be removed from office by the state parliament.

After President Bola Tinubu voiced his opinion regarding a dispute between the governor and Nyesom Wike, the minister of the federal capital territory (FCT), the house of assembly dropped their notice to impeach Fubara in December.

The two men have been at odds over who controls Rivers’ political system.

Addressing a press conference in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, Tony Okocha, chair of the APC in the state, accused the governor of “insulting” Tinubu.

“It’ll be foolhardy for us to sit down and see someone way less than Mr President insult him under our very nose,” he said.

“It is also an absurdity to see the governor espouse impunity and intimidation on people who are members of our political party, and we stand akimbo doing nothing.

“As representatives of Mr President we won’t sit here and see the governor insult the President. We won’t sit here to see the governor declare on his own as if he’s a court to declare Assembly members’ seats vacant.

“To that extent, in consultation with my party, we are directing APC members who are in the Assembly to immediately commence the impeachment of Governor Sim Fubara.

“And if they don’t do that, there’s what they call party discipline, and we shall invoke that section of the constitution and deal decisively with them.”

On Monday, Fubara expressed dismay over the attitude of the assembly members to his administration, adding that the lawmakers only exist because of him.

The governor added that he accepted the peace deal offered by Tinubu because it was a political solution to the rift.

In December, 27 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) legislators in the Rivers assembly defected to the APC.  The seats of 25 of the lawmakers were subsequently declared vacant.