The Rivers State House of Assembly clarified that Edison Ehie was never elected as its Speaker. The Assembly’s Clerk, Emeka Amadi, issued a statement in response to Ehie’s resignation letter from the position of Speaker. Ehie, a loyal supporter of Governor Sim Fubara of Rivers State, stepped down as Speaker in an effort to foster peace between the governor and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
Amidst the political crisis in the state, 26 members of the House, originally elected under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC). Ehie, as Speaker, declared their seats vacant and requested the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct new elections to fill the resulting vacancies in the Assembly.
While 26 members of the Assembly, under the leadership of Amaewhule, are aligned with Wike, Ehie and three other lawmakers remain loyal to Fubara. Nevertheless, a notice from the Clerk emphasized that Ehie never held the position of Speaker in the House of Assembly.
The notice stated, “The attention of the Rivers State House of Assembly has been drawn to a letter dated 29 December, 2023, addressed to the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and circulating in the media. It was purportedly written and signed by Rt. Hon. Edison Ehie DSSRS – member representing Ahoada East Constituency II in the Rivers State of Assembly wherein he claimed to have resigned from the position of the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, an office he never occupied.
“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 Speaker.”