Fresh facts have emerged as the real reasons why Edison Ehie, a loyalist of Rivers State governor, Siminalaye Fubara and factional speaker resigned his membership of the state assembly.
Recall that Ehie on December 29 resigned from his position as the speaker and member of the assembly representing Ahaoda East Constituency 2.
In his letter of resignation addressed to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the assembly’s former majority leader did not state the reason for his resignation but thanked his colleagues in the assembly for good working relationship and his constituency for supporting him throughout his stay in the Assembly.
Before the relationship between Fubara and Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike went south, Ehie was the majority leader of the State Assembly until he was suspended by the House following the failed impeachment process initiated against Fubara by the majority of the lawmakers, who are loyalists of Wike.
Soon after his suspension Ehie declared himself as the factional speaker of the assembly with four members on his side. He would later get a court order recognising him as the authentic speaker, leading to the presentation of the 2024 state budget to his four-member assembly by the governor, as well as his declaration of the seats of the 27 pro-Wike lawmakers as vacant.
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But following the intervention of President Bola Tinubu in the crisis, Ehie’s resignation as not just speaker but as a lawmaker became the first major incident analyst believed may be geared towards fulfilling the terms of the peace resolution.
While Ehie could not be reached for comment, a source close to him confirmed to our reporter that the former factional speaker resigned out of pressure from Wike’s camp, who had plans to humiliate him should he return to the assembly.
The source, who asked not be named, said Ehie’s resignation was also to pave way for the implementation of the peace pact initiated between Wike and Fubara.
He said with the recognition of the 27 members of the assembly loyal to Wike as one of the eight resolutions in the peace pact, the only option left for Ehie was to resign.
Daily Trust also gathered that Ehie was being penciled down to replace Chidi Amadi, a Wike loyalist, as the Chief of Staff to the governor.
“If Martins Amaehwule is recognised by Fubara, the best option left for Ehie is to resign if not he will have a very unfriendly House.
“His rumoured appointment as Chief of Staff to the governor will open another phase of crisis between Fubara and the Minister of Federal Capital Territory because the present Chief of Staff is Wike’s kinsman and was appointed by the minister. So, removing him and bringing Ehie will open another phase of the war between Wike and Fubara,” the source stated.
When contacted to confirm the report of the appointment of Ehie as Chief of Staff, Rivers State Commissioner for Information, Joe Johnson did not pick up his calls nor respond to our reporter’s inquiry on the matter.
Ehie was never a speaker, says assembly clerk
In the meantime, the Clerk of the Assembly, Emeka Amadi in a press statement issued in Port Harcourt on Wednesday said Ehie was never elected the speaker of the assembly and should not have claimed to have resigned from such office.
Referring to Ehie’s letter to INEC, Amadi said, “I am therefore directed to call on the good people of Rivers State to disregard the false claim in this letter that is intended to mislead the unsuspecting public. Rt. Hon. Edison Ehie DSSRS was never at any time in the life of the Rivers State House of Assembly elected a Speaker.”
He warned those he described as purveyors of misleading information against the House to desist forthwith and also called on security agencies to act accordingly, in order, to ensure the rule of law is protected.
